


trapped in the amber of this moment

by KatRoma



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mental Health Issues, POV Multiple, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Time Travel, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 04:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 91,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2679692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatRoma/pseuds/KatRoma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke refuses to cooperate with the Akatsuki in the aftermath of Itachi's death, wishing to remain loyal in his brother's memory, and rather than kill him, Madara tries to send him into Kumui. Clearly something went wrong along the way, because next thing Sasuke knows, he's waking up the day after the Uchiha Massacre in his seven-year-old body with no way back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly have no excuse for this story. This is just one of my favorite kind, so I decided to give it a shot. There will be an original twist on it, though, just to keep it from being cookie cutter. 
> 
> Ships undecided, though nothing will happen during the beginning portion because they're too young. Hints of SasuSaku. 
> 
> Also, his time with Orochimaru is going to be a lot more twisted than shown in canon, because Sasuke was definitely unhinged by the end of the time he killed him, so I doubt it was a good two and a half years.

For two days, Sasuke doesn’t leave the room holding the scrolls on all his family’s secrets. The ceiling fan spins lazily above him with rickety shutters, stirring up dust into circulation, and he finds nothing useful. No information on the mysteries of accidental time travel. Nothing on what happens when a Mangekyo Sharingan interacts with a Mangekyo Sharingan, and any problems that can come out of it. Not even anything useful on the Uchiha clan’s history.

By midnight the second day, he’s forced to acknowledge he’s stuck in the past. Madara tried to send him into Kumui. Sasuke doubts he knew this was going to happen, either.

He’s seven, according to the calendar in his room. He arrived on a Thursday, making it Saturday now. Outside, the sky’s clear, the stars bright, and somewhere far, far away from Konoha, Itachi’s already with the Akatsuki, making promises and deals, expecting his little brother to kill him one day. A loyal Konoha-nin until the end, and Sasuke wonders if Itachi really understood at the age of thirteen what the lasting effects of genjutsu torture could do to a person. If he really wanted to protect him, he wouldn’t have sent him on some path to revenge. Sasuke never would have fallen into Orochimaru’s hands, or ended up in the past.

Most importantly, he never would have left his team.

But now he’s in the past with no way back to his time, breathing Konoha air for the first time in nearly three years, lying on the floor of one of his compound’s buildings. The village is beautiful, and Sasuke forgot about that. Actually, maybe forgetting is the wrong word for it. Ever since the massacre the first time around, he’s had nightmares, and his time in Otogakure only made it worse. Within the past year, he pictured Konoha burning to ash every time he shut his eyes. Orochimaru liked to talk about what he’d do it. The Hokage’s monument, smashed. Main buildings burned, Academy turned to dust, residential neighborhoods reduced to wooden infrastructure and window glass. The Haruno household he’d find personally, and he never gave Sasuke details. Left it up to the imagination.

Whenever he shut his eyes, he saw fire and smoke, and imagined pink hair turned red. It never gave him any sort of satisfaction. 

Now here’s Konoha in all its relatively peaceful glory, buildings so brightly painted they’re visible even at night. Once, Sasuke called this place his home. He loved it with everything he had. Then Itachi stole it from him. They both walked away. Sasuke’s come back, however unwillingly. Redemption is a far cry from anything he deserves, but he knows the Akatsuki plans to destroy this place as effectively as Orochimaru did, and he can change that. He owes Konoha that much, at least.

Itachi will run off Orochimaru from ever laying his hands on him, so maybe Sasuke should just kill himself here, ruin any chance of the man getting the Sharingan. Or, no, that won’t solve the problem of the Akatsuki. Without him, Team Seven might not pass Kakashi’s bell test, and without the proper training, there’s an increase in the likelihood of the Akatsuki getting their hands on Naruto. At this age, Sasuke can’t really hope to do anything about the Konoha Council either—who’s going to believe a traumatized seven-year-old who had the reputation of clinging to his brother’s every word that someone forced Itachi’s hand? No, he’s going to have to gather proof for that one, and that’ll take time.

It’s starting to seem like he’s going to be stuck going through the motions of being a child if he wants to make any changes. Well, if that’s true, he can start training up his chakra reserves and stamina now so he can using his Mangekyo Sharingan again by the chuunin exams. Five years is more than enough time. All the moves are still there, his body just isn’t equipped, but he can fix that. He has to, if he wants to stop the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. If he’s going to wipe Konoha’s government of corruption.

Monday he’ll wake up at seven and go to the Academy. He’ll take his seat in the back row, and watch his classmates be children, and then return to his empty compound to complete his homework and work on his extra training. If he’s going to relive his childhood, he might as well do it correctly this time around.

He has to, or one day pink hair soaked red and a kidnapped Naruto will be a reality he’ll be forced to face, and he can’t stand the thought of that.

 

 

It’s after a month of painfully slow monotony that he hears the sobbing from behind the bushes. And even after three years and puberty’s vocal change, he can still recognize the sound of Haruno Sakura crying.

For more reasons than one, he’s been purposely avoiding even looking at her—and Naruto, for that matter. Seeing them as children when he knows them as teenagers, as adults, is just _weird_ , and for Sakura in particular. She’d been in love with him. He thinks he might have loved her a little too, in the only way he knew how to. When she asked him to stay, he almost did it. He should’ve. He wouldn’t be here if he’d just taken her hand that night instead of leaving her on that bench.

But, taking that into account, seeing her as a child is just…uncomfortable, considering he’d been attracted to her enough as an adult that he was actually jealous when he found out he’d been replaced on the team. Still, he can’t just walk away. Not now that he knows it’s her. This is before her friendship with Ino, if he’s placing the timeline correctly, which means she’s getting teased again. When he was seven the first time, it never even occurred to him to care, but now, he’s really starting to wonder what was even the point. Jealousy? Maybe. Her hair means half the boys in their year have a crush on her.

She’s behind a tree, a little off the path, crouched down with her hands over her eyes and her hair covering her face. “Hey,” he says, and he still isn’t used to how squeaky his voice is. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment, the shaking stills. Then she looks up, staring at him through pink bangs and parted fingers. “Who’re you?” she asks, her voice cracking, and her eyes are the same color as the leaves by her head. Until he met her, he never liked the color pink.

“Uchiha Sasuke,” he says, dropping his pack and coming down to her level. Her eyes widen with recognition, and oh, of course, everyone knows who he by this point. “You’re Haruno Sakura?”

It was two years before he learned her name, and that was only because they were paired together for a project, but they’re classmates. Him knowing shouldn’t be all that out of place. “Y-yeah,” she says, and slowly lowers her hands. “How’d you know?”

“I’ve heard Iruka-sensei call on you.”

This should be true enough; Iruka always made sure to call on everyone at least once, much to the annoyance of at least half the class. Sakura sniffs, and answers, “Oh, that’s good, I thought you might ‘cause—nevermind.” When he doesn’t answer right away, she hesitates, and then says, “Everyone’s always making me fun of me because of my forehead.”

Oh, he does remember something about that. He also never understood it, because she looks fine. “They’d stop if you didn’t let it bother you,” he tells her, and realizes he sounds a lot like a stupid motivational poster. “Look—here.”

When they spar at the Academy, they have to tie cloth to their pants or shirts, and the objective is for their opponent to get his or her hands on it. Sakura probably has something more decorative than his plain black one, but he doesn’t have anything else. “One of my cousins always put her hair back in a headband,” he lies, holding it out to her. “Try putting yours back like that. Words can only hurt you if you let them.”

She reaches out, and takes the cloth from him, before twisting it back the same way she’ll later wear her forehead protector. “But now it _shows_ ,” she says, and though she’s frowning, at least she isn’t crying.

Shrugging, he says, “Well, it’s better than hiding,” and stands. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan.”

As he goes to walk to way, she calls after him, “Thank you, Sasuke-kun!” and he thinks that wasn’t as weird as it could have been.

 

 

Though Sasuke’s reluctant to call them friends because of their technical age gap, by the end of the month, he and Sakura become something loosely resembling that. It isn’t as terrible as he expected it would be, because she likes learning, so her definition of “hanging out” quickly becomes “get as much information from Sasuke-kun as I can in order to build a mental encyclopedia.” In return, he doesn’t have to make his own food all the time, because her mom really likes cooking, and invites him over a lot.

A few years from now, they’re going to need each other, and they’re going to need to be good, which means they’re going to need Naruto. Dealing with him at eight is going to be…unpleasant, but Sasuke can handle it. He’ll figure something out. Then he’ll feel even more like he’s babysitting than he already does, but whatever. Whenever he starts doubting himself, he thinks of Itachi, and purposely doesn’t think about Orochimaru, and that’s all the motivation he needs to sit through another day of class.

Opportunity presents itself on a Thursday after school, when Sasuke’s stuck going back because Iruka-sensei wants to talk to him, and finds Naruto getting yelled out for a prank. “I’ll be with you in a minute, Sasuke,” Iruka says when he catches sight of him in the doorway. “Just, wait here while I get your test. Naruto, don’t move. You’re here until four.”

There’s an awkward moment of silence in the absence of an adult, and Sasuke remembers this happening before. Last time he ended up waiting in a hallway because he and Naruto got into an argument, so before the other boy can ask about how he’s managed to convince everyone he’s so great, Sasuke asks, “I’m guessing the bathroom disaster was you?”

Naruto, whose mouth was already open in preparation of going off on him, abruptly stops. “How do _you_ know about that?”

By tomorrow, it’s going to be all over the school, and everyone’s going to think it’s hilarious but pretend otherwise. Like with Sakura getting teased, Sasuke never really got the town’s collective hatred of someone stuck in a situation beyond his control. It’s not like it’s Naruto’s fault, and convincing their kids to hate one of their classmates is just bad parenting.

“What, am I not supposed?” Sasuke answers, and takes a seat in a desk two down from his future teammate’s. “Good idea, by the way. Badly executed.”

“Exe-what?”

Oh, yeah. He’s dealing with a child with a self-taught vocabulary. “How you did it,” he says. “Shinobi are supposed to be subtle. Why use bright orange rubber bands?”

With a frown, Naruto says, “’Cause orange is my favorite color. Why d’you care?”

Shrugging, Sasuke says, “I don’t.”

“But you’re the one who brought it up!” Naruto’s frown turns into a scowl. “Why bring it up if you don’t care?”

“Because you used bright orange rubber bands on silver faucets, idiot,” Sasuke says, rolling his eyes, and thinks he’s been spending too much time with Sakura, because he’s playing an seven-year-old too well. “How are you ever supposed to become a good shinobi when you can’t even hide a prank?”

Before Naruto can answer, Iruka re-enters, Sasuke’s test results in hand, and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise as he takes in the scene in front of him. Hm. Must’ve been expecting a disaster. By the time Sasuke showed up in the past, his and Naruto’s first fight had already happened.

When Iruka calls him over to the desk, Sasuke goes up without a word, and sits through the same Top of Your Class speech he received the first time around. He leaves right after, not taking so much as a glance in Naruto’s direction, and knows he’s gotten the other boy’s interest already.

 

 

Naruto gets incorporated into Sasuke and Sakura’s group of two slowly, partially just because the other two keep skirting around each other, but eventually they settle. It doesn’t take long for Naruto to ask, “So how _did_ you get your freaky eye thing?”

Unlike when Sasuke was younger (older?), his Sharingan’s tied very closely to his emotions, and as neither of them have parents, it’s not all that unusual for Naruto to accidentally fall asleep at his house. He’s seen it in the aftermath of one of Sasuke’s nightmares—and later, during a spar, because he asked. Once Sasuke realized the two of them were paired with Kakashi for reasons that had nothing to do with skill, he figured giving into Naruto’s insistence to train him wasn’t a terrible idea. Then Sakura wanted to join in, and this half babysitting, half friendship thing they have going on suddenly includes teaching.

Apparently Sasuke would’ve made a good gennin instructor in another life, because he isn’t half bad. 

“During the night that…you know,” he says, because even Naruto will understand what he means. With the actual distance he has between now and the massacre, Sasuke can talk about it with something close to ease, but it wouldn’t be normal for his childhood self to have the same capability. “It activates for the first time during a moment of high adrenaline. I was stressed.”

And then Naruto, with his complete lack of tact, says, “Because your brother killed everyone?”

As Sasuke watches Sakura hit the other boy on the back of the head with a shout of, “You idiot!” something else occurs to him. Naruto just gave him a perfect opening to getting at the Council, because now that Sasuke really thinks about it, he never _actually_ told anyone about his brother telling him to pursue revenge until Kakashi, did he?

Maybe tactless kids aren’t such a bad thing after all. “No,” he says, voice sharp. “Or, yeah. But he wouldn’t have done it if someone didn’t tell him to.”

For a second, the other two just stare at him. “What do you mean?” Sakura asks finally. “Are you sure?”

“Itachi didn’t even like killing,” he answers, crossing his arms, “so he wouldn’t do it if someone didn’t order him. I just need to find out who.”

“We’ll help you!” Naruto says, too loudly, and much too enthusiastically. “Right, Sakura?”

Nodding, she says, “I don’t know _how_ , but we will.”

“And then you’ll help me become Hokage, right?”

“Actually land a hit on me first, loser.”

The day dissolves into an ordinary hazy spring afternoon as Naruto lunges, and Sasuke kicks him in the stomach, knocking him into the stream they’re near. There are worse ways to relive a childhood, he decides as Sakura takes her place as judge, shouting out pointers. After all, he could’ve just replicated what he did the first time, and there’s no point in playing the part of a lonely kid twice.

 

 

One thing Sasuke forgot is that Kakashi’s bell test wasn’t the first encounter with teamwork he had to go through. There’s an exercise at eleven, where they get to choose their own groups, except last time he hadn’t had a group, and purposely skipped the day so he didn’t have to deal with the bullshit of the one he was given. It’s preparation for their future three-men cell, and this time he actually has a team. As it turns out, they’re the only ones with the normal two-thirds formation.

A week ahead of time, they’re given their opponents: Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba. “I’ll handle Shikamaru,” Sasuke says immediately when they all meet at his place after school, a piece of planning paper out in front of them. “They’ll fall apart without him.”

Even at this age, Shikamaru is probably one of the best strategists in their class. “Can’t he do that weird thing with the shadows?” Naruto says, scrunching up his nose. “How’re you going to deal with that?”

“Letting myself get trapped, which will give the two of you time to at least start on Chouji and Kiba,” Sasuke answers. “He might be able to bind my movements, but he can’t bind my eyes. I’ll have him unconscious in thirty seconds.”

“Is that allowed?” Sakura asks, and Sasuke nods, because he doesn’t see why not. Hinata’s allowed to use her kekkei genkei, after all.  “Okay. I’ll distract Chouji. He said he doesn’t like to hit girls,” she adds, and flips her hair over her shoulder.

With a very uncharacteristic frown, Naruto says, “Do you think Kiba’s gonna use Akamaru?”

Technically, Kiba’s not even allowed to bring his dog to school, but that doesn’t stop him from stuffing Akamaru into his jacket and feeding him treats in class. “I don’t know,” he says, and that’s something he really hates admitting. “You’re better at him in taijutsu if he isn’t.” Naruto might still suck at chakra control, but training with Sasuke for the past four years means he’s improved his other skills a lot. “Even with Akamaru, all you really need to do is distract him. The match will stop once someone’s out cold.”

“I’ll jump, come at him from the air,” Naruto says, and takes the pen from Sasuke, scribbling it down in his messy handwriting. “Akamaru can’t go up _that_ high, right?”

Eventually he’ll be able to, but right now he’s still a puppy. Before Sasuke can answer, Sakura says, “What if Shikamaru’s binding thing _does_ block Sharingan?”

Though he knows for a fact that it won’t, he can’t just say that. “Then I have to wait until the jutsu gives out,” he says with a shrug. “Just keep the other two away from me. Knock out one of them on your own if you can.”

For the next half hour, they write up different plans on the off chance the Sharingan doesn’t work, ranging from Naruto’s insane suggestions to Sakura’s already developed practicality. By now, Sasuke’s used to being a kid again, and the satisfaction he feels at knowing his team’s going to win their first fight is downright childish.

He finds he’s okay with that.

 

 

There were a couple of reactions Sasuke was expecting to Iruka to have to seeing the Sharingan, which allowed them to win the fight in under three minutes, but, “What were you _thinking?_ ” wasn’t one of them.

Ten minutes later, and he’s in front of Kazuki-sensei, the head of the Academy, who’s looking down at Sasuke like he doesn’t know what to do with him. “That was very irresponsible,” Kazuki-sensei says, and Sasuke hasn’t been this genuinely surprised in a while. “You could have seriously hurt your classmate.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” he says. “I knew what I was doing.”

From Kazuki-sensei’s raised eyebrow, Sasuke’s guessing this isn’t believable, and counts as his first screw up. He's been doing so well. “I’ve been with this Academy for a long time, Sasuke,” he says. “You aren’t the first Uchiha I’ve met who’s developed the Sharingan while in school. I’ve seen how hard it is to learn how to control.”

It took me less than a month, Sasuke thinks, maybe a bit unfairly, but whatever. Getting talked down to is annoying. “I’ve had it for four years,” he says. “I’ve practiced.”

The older man’s face suddenly pales, which means he must be connecting the dates in his head. “And you haven’t informed anyone?”

“There was no reason to before,” he answers, even though if this happened the first time around he would’ve made sure the Hokage knew before the hospital release papers went through. “Hinata’s allowed to use her Byakugan. Why can’t I use the Sharingan?”

“Hyuga Hinata’s Byakugan isn’t developed enough to be dangerous.” Yeah, by the time she’s sixteen, it still won’t be. “You, on the other hand, knocked someone out with a look. We might be training you to be gennin in a year, but the fact remains that we don’t want any of you seriously injured before this point.”

This is so unfair it’s ridiculous. When Itachi developed his Sharingan, he graduated. Before the age requirement was put in place, that was a common occurrence for Uchiha Academy students, though most didn’t develop it until after leaving anyway. Why did _he_ have to get the talk about dangerous it is?

Oh.

_Oh._

Somehow, the realization is makes it even more pointless. “Just because I don’t have anyone to teach me doesn’t mean I can’t teach myself.”

“Regardless of how you managed to learn how to use it,” Kazuki-sensei said, apparently unimpressed that an eleven-year-old has a fully matured Sharingan, “that was still an inappropriate move for a school setting. You’re getting a warning this time, but if you do this again, you’ll have to stay after class. Do you understand?”

How is it Itachi got himself a graduation, and all Sasuke gets is a threat of detention? Teaching himself wasn’t all that hard. “Yes, Kazuki-sensei,” he says, hoping his irritation isn’t too blatant. “I won’t use the Sharingan in class again.”

When he’s dismissed, he leaves without a word. Sakura’s gone by the time he returns, picked up by her mom, but Naruto is there waiting, a more dutiful friend than Sasuke ever appreciated before. “Was he a jerk about it?” Naruto asks, and when Sasuke says that yes, Kazuki was, his friend continues, “You know, I’ve always _wanted_ to prank the guy.”

Sasuke tells himself he won’t reach that low, but then he decides there’s no reason he shouldn’t, and agrees.

The next morning, Kazuki-sensei wakes to every inch of his office covered in posted notes, and no way to prove they did it. When Naruto doesn’t confess, no one knows what to think, and the resulting confusion makes everything so much better.

 

 

Though he passes every other portion of the gennin exam, Naruto still fails at ninjutsu, which means he fails completely. “Should we go after him?” Sakura asks, watching him walk away after insisting he would find a way to pass by tomorrow anyway. “I don’t want to just leave him like that.”

“No, just let him go,” Sasuke answers, because he knows that by tomorrow, Naruto really will be there. “Do you really think he wants to be around after we made it?”

Her shoulders drop. “Oh, you’re right.”

Glancing down at her, he says, “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

The happiness of her (their) own graduation is lessened by Naruto failing, and Sakura walks so close their arms touch.

 

 

Naruto makes it, and three hours later they’re sitting in front of Hatake Kakashi, jounin sensei, who was just as late as last time. “I thought we’d start with introductions,” he says once they’re all seated. “From what I hear, the three of you are friends already, but I’m going to need to some catching up. So, name, likes, dislikes, any hobbies, dreams for the future?”

“What about you?” Sakura says. “Shouldn’t you go first?”

As Kakashi gives his same vague, nondescript answer, Sasuke realizes for the first time how _different_ the introductions are going to be. “Now you, the loud one,” Kakashi says, nodding in Naruto’s directions. “You’re first.”

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto, and I like ramen!” he says instantly, and Sakura doesn’t bother disguising it when she rolls her eyes. “I especially like it when Mebuki-san _makes_ me ramen. I don’t like…”

He trails off, and Sasuke realizes that it’s because they’re friends. There’s no stupid fucking love triangle to make Naruto hate him. “You hate losing,” Sasuke says, and his teammate nods.

“Yeah, I hate losing. Hobbies? I guess hanging out with these guys.” Then, smiling again, he finishes, “And my dream is to one day be Hokage, and make _everyone_ acknowledge me.”

Despite Naruto having a social life, people are still assholes, and Sasuke doesn’t know how he missed all the glares and muttering. He may or may not have used a low level genjutsu on a grocer a couple years back for calling Naruto a demon, but no one needs to know about that.

All Kakashi does is lift his one visible eyebrow, and it disappears into his hair. “You, girl,” he says, already shifting his attention. “You’re next.”

“Haruno Sakura,” she says, “and I like spending time with these idiots. I don’t like people who judge others because of their appearance. I guess my hobby is trivia games. My dream is to prove to everyone that just because I don’t have some family specific jutsu, I can’t still be one of the best—and to protect my friends.”

The end catches by Sasuke surprise, because when has he ever showed a sign that he needs protecting? Before he has a chance to do anything, Kakashi says, “Your turn.”

Well, it’s time to cement his reason for every looking around where he doesn’t belong. “I’m Uchiha Sasuke,” he says. “I like…them. I hate snakes.” When they were ten, Naruto found out, tried to prank him with a fake one, and the resulting fight left them not talking to each other until Sakura forced him. Using the Sharingan might have been overkill. “My dream—or it’s more of a goal—is to get answers.”

For a moment, Kakashi looks at him, silent. Then, “Answers?”

“We’re shinobi, Kakashi-sensei,” Sasuke says. “I thought we weren’t supposed to take anything at face value.”

Though he knows he’ll be questioned more later, that’s enough for now. “Meet at the training grounds tomorrow at eight sharp,” he says. “Don’t eat breakfast, and don’t be late.”

By now, the three of them should be smart enough to for the other two to at least listen to him when he says they need to use teamwork. Maybe with their combined efforts, and his Sharingan, they’ll even be able to get the bells.

 

 

“It’s a trick,” Sasuke says after they all dive into the bushes. “Gennin are split into three-men cells. He can’t fail just one of us.”

“How do you know?” Naruto says. “Why would he lie?”

“Sasuke-kun has a point,” Sakura says, glancing at him. “Think about the team building exercise at the Academy. That had to be for a reason. Maybe the lie’s to deter up from using teamwork?”

Repressing a smile at the fact she figured it out so quickly, Sasuke says, “She’s right. Naruto, use your clones and come at him from above. Sakura, use substitution and attack from all sides. I’ll come at him from the front.”

Developing a friendship years earlier lead to a surprising difference: last night Naruto actually told them how he managed to pass, without sparing the details. Sasuke thinks Sakura is more freaked out than she’s pretending, but the indifferent way Sasuke accepted it must’ve done something, because here she is, acting like nothing’s changed, and agreeing with the plan. It also means he has an advantage in knowing about the clones.

With one decisive group nod, they’re off, and Kakashi’s clearly expecting some sort of teamwork from three long-term friends. But the clones are still surprising, the fact that that the kunai one of throws is actually Sakura even more so, and when Sasuke finally appears in front of him, Kakashi attacks, throwing a shuriken that’s burned by the Uchiha Kanton jutsu before it’s even a threat.

When the smoke clears, the Sharingan’s activated, and in some oversight, apparently Kazuki never felt the need to tell anyone about it.

Sasuke’s spent the past four years building back up his chakra reserves and skill, and he’s not to the level he was at fifteen, but he’s definitely to what he was when he took the chuunin exam, just with stronger eyes.

Unfortunately, chuunin level isn’t good enough, because Kakashi’s fast; Sasuke catches it when he makes the clone, but he’s too slow to do anything about it. Next thing he knows, he’s on the water, and it’s only quick reflexes and chakra control that stop him from falling in. He sees the seals for genjutsu right as Kakashi starts, prepared for Sakura who’s coming from below from behind, and manages to call out, “Sakura, question five on the final!” just in time.

“Kai!”

If Kakashi wasn’t expecting that, either, he does a good job at not showing it. Instead he throws a kunai in Naruto’s direction, who’s hidden in one of the trees, and Sasuke quickly throws one of his own to intercept it. When he goes for a Kanton again, Kakashi dodges, but it’s enough time for Sakura, and several of Naruto’s clones, to actually touch the bells. With Sasuke’s Sharingan catching every move combined with his teammates’ persistence, facing off Kakashi’s speed and intelligence, they’re at something close to a standstill. Realizing his plan is working makes Sasuke feel happier than he has in years.

The fight lasts until noon, or at least that’s what Sasuke’s told, because he passes out from chakra exhaustion around eleven forty-five. Apparently his chakra reserves aren’t as built up as he thought, and keeping the Sharingan activated for that long, as well as performing so many jutsu, was overkill.

Kakashi’s bells are still around his waist, which is frustrating to a degree Sasuke doesn’t want to admit. “I’ve never passed a gennin team before,” his sensei says, pulling him up. “You all need a lot of work, but the first rule to any group is teamwork. Without teamwork, you’re bound to fail. Welcome to Team Seven.”

Naruto cheers, and Sasuke falls back to the ground by the force of Sakura tackling him. And it surprises him, really, the sudden feeling like he’s finally come home.


	2. chapter i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke isn't nearly as good at hiding as he thinks he is.

Kakashi’s never passed a gennin team before, but he’s been handed a few. Of all the ones to not fail, he never thought the team would his sensei’s Jinchuruki son, the survivor the Uchiha Massacre, and a girl with bright pink hair. Who all happen to be friends.

A little warning would’ve been nice.

When he meets up with Kurenai and Asuma about a week in, as the only three to have also passed teams, all their stories are just so…normal. “I’m supposed to keep a close eye on Hinata,” Kurenai says, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. “Her father came to speak to me personally about it. I’m sure you would’ve gotten the same if circumstances were different, Kakashi. You have the Uchiha boy, right?”

“I doubt it,” Kakashi answers. “He’s the second son.”

If circumstances were different. One thing that’s been bothering him these past few days is the way Sasuke looked him dead in the face and said, _I thought we weren’t supposed to take anything at face value._ The kid’s what, eleven? Twelve? There’s really only one event in his life that can be referring to.

And if Kakashi remembers correctly from his short time working with Itachi, Sasuke clung to his side whenever he had the chance.

“All Ino talks about is your Uchiha boy,” Asuma says, draining his cup, and calling for another. Bars are the only place they won’t risk running into their students. “‘Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that. Why does Forehead Girl get all the luck?’ It’s definitely not helping Chouji’s self-esteem. Then there’s Shikamaru, who I think doesn’t care about anything.”

The beginning weeks of gennin training are always hard, Kakashi’s heard, though this is his first time experiencing it. The same goes for Kurenai, who says, “Hinata can’t say more than three words without stuttering, Kiba has an attention span shorter than Akamaru’s, and Shino doesn’t talk. The Academy turned out a weird bunch this year.”

Weird doesn’t even begin to cut it. What was the likelihood that of all people to become friends in childhood, it would Naruto and Sasuke? Sasuke, who’s Sharingan control is also so spot on he might be surpassing his brother when Itachi was twelve, when that’s exactly the thing that can control a Tailed-Beast. If Kakashi had to guess, he’d say the reason Naruto and Sakura are above fresh out of Academy level, with the exception of that unexplained Kage Bunshin, is because of Sasuke—the kid’s too good. Even stranger, it’s almost like he’s trying not to be.

What gennin downplays his skill?

“Can any of them walk on water yet?” he says, looking to the other two. “Or do they not teach that at the Academy still?”

As he pours Kurenai another cup of sake, Asuma answers, “They don’t even teach their students how to walk up walls. Why?”

“Because one of mine landed on the lake, and didn’t fall in.”

Kurenai makes a noise like she’s choking, and Asuma hits her back. “Thanks,” she says, before turning to Kakashi. “You can learn that without someone teaching you?”

Walking on water isn’t an easy skill; even for Kakashi, it took a couple of tries, and that was with Minato talking him through it. Landing like that is even harder. “I’ll have to ask him,” he says.

Or Umino Iruka, he adds to himself. As uneasy as it makes him, the moment Kakashi saw Sasuke hack the ivy off a building wall by using chakra to walk up it, he started thinking that Itachi could be the cause. If Sasuke is this good at twelve, it’s not hard to imagine he was skilled above his age group when he was younger. It would make sense if his brother gave him additional lessons, and that’s a more uncomfortable thought than he wants to admit.

He’d been there, after all, on the search party for Uchiha Itachi. Never got a look at Sasuke, barely heard a thing about him, but Kakashi saw the compound. _I thought we weren’t supposed to take anything at face value_ , the kid said. That isn’t normal. Nothing about this is normal, but the last thing Konoha needs is another incident like the Uchiha Massacre. Honestly, Kakashi feels like someone handed him a timed explosive tag, and told him it _probably_ won’t go off but there’s still the chance it will. As if seeing Kushina’s face recreated on her son every day wasn’t bad enough.

“Well, I better head out,” Kurenai says, putting down her split of the pay on the table. “Unlike someone here, I believe in punctuality, and we need to be up early tomorrow.”

Tomorrow Team Seven has a mission with a farmer outside the walls plowing his field. If Kakashi has to deal with any puns on his name, he might maim something.

Half an hour later he and Asuma leave, and Kakashi thinks he better figure out what’s going on with his team soon, or he might not like the consequences.

 

 

“I can’t take it anymore,” Sakura says, lying on her bedroom floor as Sasuke dabs disinfectant onto the scratches on her arms. “How many times can we save one cat?”

Today they had to double up on missions, because Cat Lady requested them personally midway through their first, which was supervising a civilian preschool, and after they returned that annoying little beast to its incredibly grateful own, they somehow ended up back at the Haruno residence. Five years ago, when she first introduced her parents to Naruto, they’d been all awkward about it (which probably has something to do with the Kyuubi, but it’s not like she knew about that at the time), but now Mom and Dad act like it’s such a relief to have the boys over because “what a shame that two sweet kids like that are forced to live alone.” It’s actually embarrassing. For once, they’re actually letting the three of them eat dinner in her bedroom, though, which is good, because after sitting in a desk watching kids all morning, the last thing Sakura wants to do is sit more.

Besides, she and Sasuke are covered in scratches, and it’s probably something they should take care of. She hopes she’s managed to disguise her blush at having him so close, because the only thing worse than liking a person is liking your best friend.

As Sasuke makes a noise of agreement, Naruto says, “I bet she has a thing for Kakashi-sensei.”

“Wouldn’t put it past her,” Sasuke says, and starts on the bandaging.

When Sakura says, “I want a harder mission,” he suddenly freezes. “What’s wrong, Sasuke-kun?”

It lasted just a moment, but a quick glance at Naruto shows he saw it too—wide eyes, shallow breathing, Sasuke’s whole body stilled. “What? Nothing,” he answers, but as brief as it was, Sakura’s seen it enough times before that it wasn’t hard to catch it. After five years, she’s learned to accept that there’s something a little…off about her friend. All it really takes is saying or doing something, and there’ll be a second where he’s gone. She doesn’t think he notices it, either.

The worst, hands down, was when she tried to touch the back of his neck to get his attention, and after that, she and Naruto learned some things are off limits.

But why a C-ranking mission? Of all things, the chance to prove himself?

Then Naruto says, “So, who wants to bet she’ll lose her cat again by next week?” and they drop the subject for the rest of the night.

 

 

Naruto was right, and a week later the Daimyo’s wife loses her damn cat again, so Sasuke’s really not surprised when his friend launches into a campaign for a C-rank mission.

For a moment, he debates on speaking up, for saying they aren’t ready for it, but decides that’s a bad idea. There’s a chance that if anyone else goes, they’ll be sent back, and Tazuna can’t afford a B-ranking mission. That town will lose everything it has, and with his advanced awareness from doing this before, Sasuke will have to live the rest of his life knowing he could have stopped it. Realistically, it’s not like they die or anything.

Not caring was so much easier than this. He fully blames his longer exposure to Sakura and Naruto for the change.

Tazuna’s half-drunk, reeking of alcohol, and when he insults Naruto, Sakura goes off on him before their friend even has a chance. “Well,” Sasuke hears Kakashi say under his breath, “this is a fantastic start.”

Oh, he doesn’t even know the half of it. Maybe this time Sasuke can even get through the mission without nearly dying in the process.

 

 

The last time Sasuke was outside Konoha’s walls, he was leaving, and he’d thought he’d been here too long for memories to affect him, but they come anyway.

When Sakura puts a hand on his arm, he almost attacks out of reflex, his mind telling him it’s one of the Oto-nin coming to steal him away again, but her unrepressed chakra washes over strong enough that he still feels safe. “Are you all right, Sasuke-kun?” she asks, and he wishes she’d kept her mouth shut, because now Kakashi’s looking their way.

As he’s, well, _Kakashi_ , he’s more perceptive than a couple of eight-year-olds, or even a few instructors at the Academy. Even if it’s been years, Sasuke knows he has to be careful, and showing any sign that his head isn’t on straight is a pretty big tip off that there’s something not right about him. Ending up in I&T isn’t something he intends to ever do, so he answers quietly, “Just have a bad feeling about this,” which is an excuse that will come across as believable enough when the Kiri-nin attack.

For Naruto, this is his first time outside the walls (and should be Sasuke’s too, he realizes), so he’s too hyper to notice anything other than his own excitement that he’s actually here. “Tazuna-san,” Sakura says just as the man goes to presumably tell off the kid who’s loud enough to attract any enemies he hasn’t warned the escorts about, “what’s the Wave Country like?”

Between his time with Orochimaru, and the years past, some of Sasuke’s memories have gotten foggy, and the exact history of the situation is one of them, he realizes, so he listens with as much attention he can manage while also keeping an eye out for the puddle. It comes, conveniently, right as Tazuna finishes, and Sasuke bumps into Kakashi deliberately, making it look like an accident while tipping him off that he’s not the only one who’s noticed it. All he does is glance down at him, but it’s enough for Sasuke to know the gesture worked.

This time, when the Kiri-nin attack, Naruto doesn’t hesitate, and all three of them throw themselves into the fight. A mix between memory and his eyes allows Sasuke to catch their technique and jutsu fast enough to take the offensive, and Kakashi doesn’t have to fake dying. Like a lot of shinobi outside of Konoha, they must not know too much about the Sharingan, because one makes eye contact to try to track Sasuke’s movement while another goes to wrap him in chains from his left side. He catches the first in a genjutsu strong enough to stop him in his tracks, and forces chakra into his feet to help him jump, propelling himself higher than the second’s attack.

Before he can go any further, Naruto finishes the Kiri-nin off, knocking him out from behind with a kick to the head, and Sakura’s already helping Kakashi in the process of tying them up. They came out with no injuries, no faked death, and Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan before it can pull too much chakra.  

Considering that the Demon Brothers are incapacitated, Sasuke expects all the attention to turn to Tazuna first. Instead, Kakashi looks to him. “Where did you learn to do that?” he says. “That was a chuunin level technique.”

He never asked Naruto about the Kage Bunshin, and Sasuke thinks this incredibly unfair. “I figured it out,” he says. “It’s the logical step after walking up trees or across water.”

Kakashi looks at him evenly for a moment, like he doesn’t believe him, before focusing his attention on Tazuna, and Sasuke spends the entire explanation trying to figure out where he went wrong.

 

 

There isn’t much Sasuke can do without drawing too much attention to himself when Kakashi tells the three of them to stay put so he can fight off Zabuza, but the moment he’s captured, their jounin-level enemy is free game.

“Naruto, make a few of you guard Tazuna-san,” Sasuke says, trying to think of the least dangerous way to go into this very dangerous situation. “Remember what we planned against Shikamaru’s group last year?”

As Naruto creates half a dozen clones, Sakura asks, “Yeah. You sure about this?”

“We’re going to fight eventually.”

“Who’s who?”

From inside the water prison, Kakashi shouts at all of them to run, and they ignore him. When Naruto says, “Well, you’re the only one who can walk on water, so you should be us, right?” his voice overlaps Zabuza calling them arrogant.

When Sasuke distracted and knocked out Shikamaru in the teamwork simulation last year, Naruto and Sakura had the opportunity to attack Chouji and Kiba. In the real world, fighting isn’t about taking out one and going onto the other; sometimes temporarily occupying an opponent’s attention is all it takes instead. So as much as Kakashi’s going to want to kill him for using his friends as bait later, Sasuke still knows this is going to be the most effective way to free him, and says, “Cover me.”

They rush Zabuza together, a collective group of awkward gennin trying to fight for the first time, and Sasuke splits away at the last minute. “Sakura, his right elbow!” he says, which gives his friend enough time to dodge, as he slides under a kick, and straight onto the water. Haku’s faster than Zabuza, and Sasuke’s faster than Haku, but even with that, he doesn’t think he would’ve been able to pull this off as easily as he did without Naruto’s endless clones, and Sakura’s constant stream of kunai and shuriken aimed for their enemy’s head.

“Sasuke, get back,” Kakashi says from inside the prison. “Now isn’t the time to test how good you are.”

With a laugh that’s downright cliché, Zabuza says, “Should’ve listened to Hatake, here, kid. By the time I was your age, these hands were soaked in blood. You’re out your league. If you wanted to die, all you needed to do was stay back.”

Right as he starts the hand seals for another water clone, Sasuke finally activates his Sharingan, and Kakashi isn’t the only one who knows how to copy. “What the fuck?” Zabuza says at the sight of his eyes, the clone forming for the water. “I thought the Uchiha clan was extinct.”

Sasuke doesn’t waste his breath by pointing out the obvious, and instead tests to make sure Zabuza isn’t secretly impervious to genjutsu. Either he isn’t, or his eyes are too slow to pick up quick hand seals, because by the time his water clone attacks, Sasuke’s already behind him. The clone he left behind takes full impact from the blade, bursting into saltwater and mist, and Zabuza turns around just in time to block an incoming kunai.

It does nothing to block his eyes.

Sometimes, the best attacks are the simple ones, and Sasuke can’t do anything flashy with his chakra reserves as low as they are after the fight with the Demon Brothers. But that doesn’t stop his ability to make Zabuza think the water in Kakashi’s prison is boiling his skin, the shock forcing him to release the jutsu.

Of course, the moment he does, he realizes what happened, but the damage is done, and his concentration slipped. The clone on the shore is gone. Kakashi’s free. When Zabuza goes to unsheathe his sword for an attack, Kakashi grabs arm, halting the movement, and says, “I’m your opponent. And I won’t fall for the same trick twice. What will you do now?”

They jump away at the same time, which gives Sasuke a good look at the shoreline. Though both his friends are littered in cuts and bruises, nothing seems serious, and Tazuna’s untouched. Good. Unfortunately, this is where Sasuke’s usefulness runs out—he’s not trained in any water nature transformation, and copying a Bunshin jutsu is one thing, but doing something as massive as what Zabuza and Kakashi are about to is another.

As they start, Sasuke goes around them, knowing he’s safer out of the way, and makes it back to shore. “That was incredible,” Sakura says, except now that he’s no longer concentrating on keeping the proper amount of chakra in his feet, he’s starting to feel the effects of using his Sharingan for so long.

Right as the two attacks slam into each other of the lake, Sasuke’s vision starts going dark. “Seriously, _again_?” he hears Naruto say, and the last thing Sasuke sees before he hits the ground is the green of Sakura’s eyes.

 

 

It takes two days for Sakura to remember they haven’t told Sasuke what happened to Zabuza’s body. He freezes up, chopsticks halfway to his bowl and eyes wide, and Kakashi says, “What’s wrong?”

Before she can answer that this is relatively normal, Sasuke snaps himself out of it, and says, “I thought disposal of a shinobi’s body’s is supposed to happen right at the kill site.”

The whole table goes silent, including the annoying Inari kid that Sakura’s wanted to kill more than a few times on this trip. “You’re right,” Kakashi says, and what little she can see of his face has gone pale. “I knew something was off. Why else would he use acupuncture needles?”

The fact that she didn’t put that together herself, either, hits Sakura hard. “That was in one of those chapters in our textbook two years ago we weren’t supposed to go over, wasn’t it?” she says, and Sasuke nods. Like him, she would read everything cover to cover, so she should’ve known this, too. “Kakashi-sensei, does this Zabuza isn’t dead?”

“It’s likely,” he says. “The chakra exhaustion hit me so quickly I didn’t have time to think it over. Hunter-nin in particular are known to burn their kill immediately, to further reduce the risk of an enemy getting their hands on the body.”

Naruto’s mouth twitches. “Wait, we’re going to have to fight that guy again?”

“Unless this happens to be an incredibly unskilled Hunter-nin, then yes, probably,” Kakashi-sensei answers, and Sakura just wants to take up Tsunami-san’s offer for a swim in the ocean and then go home. After all, Mom and Dad are going to be really worried about the three of them by now. “The three of you are going to need additional training. You did well, but if it comes to two opponents, you’re going to need to do better.”

Oh, how wonderful. Though Sasuke recovered quick enough, he still fainted, and Kakashi-sensei is completely burned out, so this is just what they need. _Another_ fight. Of course, she’s a kunoichi, this is what she’s going to do for the rest of her life, but she’d rather not have her team die in the process. She doesn’t care how realistic it is, she wasn’t lying when she said she wanted to protect them. And these past two fights, she’s definitely been the most useless out of the four of them.

If this is really going to come to another one, that’s got to change. Next time, she isn’t going to watch anyone collapse to the ground, not if she can help it.

So she asks, “When do we start?” and Kakashi visible eye crinkles into a smile at her resolve.

 

 

Training is good and all, but considering they’re in a whole different country, it would kind of cool if it involved something other than trees. “Isn’t this the thing you promised to teach us like a year ago?” Naruto says once they’re all out in the grove.

Nodding, Sasuke says, “Would’ve, too, if you didn’t get detention.”

“But that girl was insulting Sakura!”

Sakura rolls her eyes. “I’m not completely defenseless, you know,” she says with a frown, and turns to her tree. “After all, I _did_ just get this on the first try.”

Yeah, yeah, good for her, but she’s like Sasuke, which means she’s good at almost everything on her first few tries. Even if it’s probably a bad thing, Naruto was kind of hoping she’d make a mistake at least once so he didn’t look like a total failure when he kept screwing up. Which is exactly what he’s doing. Ugh.

Though he totally didn’t need to do the exercise, Sasuke’s been walking up a tree too, saying something about building up his chakra reserves, which he needs, obviously. This is his second fainting spell in like two months because of that Sharingan, and while Naruto was originally jealous, now he’s starting to think it’s as much a curse as it’s a good thing. If that fight with Zabuza went on even just a few seconds longer, his friend would’ve gone out in the water.

Halfway up the tree, Naruto loses control, falling backwards with his arms flailing, but stops abruptly when a hand snags at the back of his shirt. Sasuke’s upside down on a branch, even though his tree’s the one next to this one, which means the jerk can even jump. What a show off.

With a smile that’s more of a smirk, he says, “I guess this means I need to stay here. We don’t need you dying of something as dumb as a free fall.”

“Wow, so mean, and after I carried you back and everything.”

He must’ve said it loud enough for Sakura to hear in her tree two down, because she giggles, which means at least someone here appreciates him. Sasuke just ignores both of them. “You’re close enough you should be able to get your grip back,” he says, and Naruto realizes he’s right if they angle him better. “Try applying more. If it’s too much, that should be enough to let you jump off instead of fall.”

Even though it’s hard, he manages to get his feet to the tree trunk, and focuses as hard as he can to getting the perfect amount of chakra. Just as he starts thinking it’s working, though, Sasuke lets go, and Naruto accidentally applies too much, indenting the trunk and throwing him backwards. Like his friend said, though, it’s enough momentum to let him land on his feet. It also gives him a range of what he needs to get between to stick.

Sasuke jumps, landing with more dignity than that stupid cat they chased a million times because he really is a show off, and Naruto doesn’t realize Kakashi moved away from the tree was leaning against until he asks, “Where did you learn how to do this?”

The question’s obviously not directed at him, and he knows the answer anyway, so Naruto heads back to his tree.     Behind him, Sasuke answers, “Itachi taught me.”

There’s a really, really long pause, and right as Naruto falls from a shorter distance than before, he hears Kakashi say, “Sasuke, we need to talk.”

Naruto hits the ground with a thunk hard enough to jar his teeth. Really, Sakura and Sasuke don’t realize how lucky they got it, but he _will_ figure this out by the time Kakashi’s recovered. That much he knows for absolute sure.

 

 

From how calmly Sasuke said that it was Itachi who taught him how to use chakra, Kakashi knows he’s right; there’s a disconnect between what actually happened, and what Sasuke must think happened. This is something he needs to fix as soon as possible, and having this conversation far away from Konoha isn’t such a bad idea.

He doesn’t do it in Tazuna’s household either, but in another clearing in the woods. “You said Itachi showed you?” he says, and Sasuke nods. “What else did he teach you?”

For a second, Sasuke just looks at him. Then, “Not the Sharingan, if that’s what you’re thinking. I didn’t develop that until…” He trails off, and looks down.

Somehow, his hesitation just makes this harder, because the objective of this conversation isn't to hurt him. It doesn’t help that Kakashi still doesn’t know the kid very well yet. “Your file from the Academy says you have an attention problem,” he tells him, and Sasuke looks up, his surprise not exactly evident on his face, but definitely there. “Naruto’s says the same thing. I was expecting a couple of scatterbrained students for the first few weeks, but if anything, your focus is better than most adults, so the way I see it, you must’ve known everything already.”

“So what?” Sasuke says, defensive, but it’s not the average twelve-year-old defensive. There’s something calculating in the way he’s looking up, less of an I Dare You, and more like he’s deciding if he needs to physically defend himself. This isn’t the normal early gennin behavior of someone who just happens to have a better education than most. This is the reaction of someone well trained. “If there’s something you want to ask me, then ask it.”

Kakashi should’ve known he couldn’t circle the subject for long. “When you said you wanted answers during introductions,” he says. “What did you mean?”

“It’s a long story.”

“We have the time.”

He lets the silence sit. Eventually, Sasuke says, “I want to know why Itachi did it. My brother wouldn’t do something like that, not without a good reason.”

As Sasuke’s sensei, Kakashi’s able to get his hands on medical files. He should really find out if there were signs of genjutsu torture, and if so, why no one bothered to help a traumatized child. “No, it wasn’t,” he says, and for a second Sasuke looks so hopeful he feels guilty when he shuts it down by continuing, “Your brother was an ANBU at the time, and heir to a major clan. There’s a reason age restrictions were created. Someone that young just couldn’t take it.”

“No, he wouldn’t, not without orders, or—”

“Sasuke, I’m—”

But Sasuke just insists, “That doesn’t make sense. Then why am I still here?”

Like that, Kakashi loses all energy to help his student here and now. “Here” can mean one of two things, _alive_ , or _still in Konoha._ One of those options is worse than other, but he isn’t sure which. Rather than ask, he just puts his hand on top of Sasuke’s head and says, “Come on, let’s go see how Naruto’s doing. Not everyone’s lucky enough to have an older brother to show them the ropes.”

Though the kid doesn’t smile, some of the tension leaves him, and he goes back to looking like any typical, slightly-more-depressed-than-normal twelve-year-old. “Yeah, I guess,” he says, and lets Kakashi lead him back without a word of complaint.

 

 

Because they finished training, Sakura and Sasuke are in charge of guarding Tazuna while he builds the bridge, or does errands around town. Spending time with Sakura is normally something Sasuke would enjoy, but he doesn’t remember the exact day of Zabuza’s attack, and the constant anticipation he feels is making him jumpy.

It doesn’t help that the last time he saw this village wasn’t actually on this mission, Sasuke realizes when following Tazuna around the main square. During his time in Oto, he requested outside jobs often just to get away from Orochimaru and Kabuto, and he brought in someone who defected from their laboratory team who tried to hide out here. That was back before they realized Sasuke froze up when it came to killing people, and Orochimaru hadn’t liked it when he brought the missing-nin back in alive. The resulting punishment almost got Sasuke to run back to Konoha, but a mix between fear, obsession, and pride kept him where he was. He was thirteen at the time.

What a fucking idiot he used to be.

At least that means he knows this village will eventually clean itself up, though, because he’s getting really sick of pulling Sakura out of the way of grown adults trying to feel her up. When she returns the favor by punching a guy trying to pickpocket him in the face, Tazuna laughs. “You two really are something else,” he says, shaking his head. “But it’s good to see young people so protective of each other. It seems like these days everyone’s out for themselves.”

Protective is probably too gentle a word, but Sasuke’s not up for admitting he might go a little overboard. Clearly Sakura can take care of herself when it comes to a few civilians. “The three of us have been friends for a long time, Tazuna-san,” she says with a smile. “We’re used to looking out for each other.”

The only blemish Sakura has on her otherwise spotless record is for the time she smacked the back of one of their classmates’ heads for calling Naruto a freak back when they were about ten. Sasuke’s version of helping out his friends was preparing them for this to the best of his ability. “What happened to this place?” he asks. “You mentioned someone named Gatou trying to shut down the building of the bridge?”

All up and down the street, men walk by with signs over their chests reading _Will Work for Food_ , or _Will Work for Half Pay_ , or some variation of the two. Beggars, pickpockets, thieves at the stalls. At the bread shop down the corner, a boy who must be new at stealing snags a loaf, and Sasuke’s nearly positive the woman working sees and still allows it to happen. Even though he’s paying close attention, he can’t find a sign that there’re police officers anywhere.

Tazuna explains, and Sasuke remembered a good portion of it, but it’s just as bad to hear the second time around. In a way, it might even be worse, because he’s actually walking the streets, seeing the damage, and down the road, a woman slaps a beggar girl away with her handbag.

There’s something dark in humanity, and there always has been. Shinobi aren’t the only one who get to spend their days staring it in the face.

 

 

Though Sasuke’s goal had been to avoid getting trapped in the ice cage, his speed is so blatantly superior, and his Sharingan already expected, that Haku releases it almost immediately. With his eyes, dodging the needles is easy, and attacking not so much, but it’s not impossible, either.

Or, that’s what he’d like to say, but of course Naruto managed to get his way in here again, and now Sasuke has to focus on not just stopping himself from getting hit, but also his friend. If he didn’t have to, then he could focus on landing a hit. Instead, he’s stuck shouting, “Let, right, up, up, left and up!” every few seconds, which also gives Haku enough time to know where Naruto’s going to dodge.

It shouldn’t be all surprise when, in the end, it’s not Sasuke that falls, needles in his neck, but Naruto.

Somehow, it is anyway.

Logic tells him that his friend probably isn’t dead, but there’s no pulse, and really, what’s the likelihood that Haku made the same move twice? No, Naruto can’t be dead. That would mean Sasuke failed already, that he’s as useless as he used to be, _that all he fucking do is save him_ —

He doesn’t notice the needles have stopped until he stands, completely still, and realizes the world looks different. Sharper, even by Sharingan standards. There’s so much chakra focused in his eyes he feels like his life is draining out of him, and that can only mean that out of instinctive reaction to his own panic, he just activate his Mangekyo Sharingan for the first time in five years. If he has any chance of fixing this, he needs out the prison, and there’s only one type of fire more powerful than water.

As Haku releases another round of needles aimed straight for Sasuke’s back, black flames burst out in a circle, burning the ice, and his eye begins to bleed.


	3. chapter ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto's clueless, Sasuke's not actually passive aggressive, and Sakura's a hypocrite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timeline is a little out of order. It's not all that important, I just didn't realize until I was halfway done with the chapter.

The fight ends. Haku, half burned alive, dies with Zabuza after taking the hit of Kakashi-sensei’s lightning attack. When everything is said and done, Gatou and his army cleared away by one last act of loyalty, Sakura finds Naruto laid out on the ground the exact way she wanted so desperately to avoid, and Sasuke sitting still at his side, legs to his chest, unfocused eyes staring at their friend.

It’s snowing somehow, she doesn’t know why and she doesn’t care, and she drops next to him. “Is he, is he?” she says, too afraid to use the word she thinks Naruto actually is, and Sasuke doesn’t so much as twitch. “But it’s needles, like Zabuza, he could just be—come on, you jerk, how are you supposed to be Hokage if you don’t wake up!”

Even though kunoichi aren’t meant to cry, she is anyway, because girls are allowed to when their best friends are passed out or worse a stone bridge with sharp objects in his neck.

Then Kakashi is there, gently removing the needles like he’s done it before. “I’m sorry,” Sasuke says in a voice she’s never heard before—small, hollow. “I wasn’t good enough.”

“Sasuke,” Kakashi says, “show me your eyes.”

Right now, with Naruto like this, Sasuke feels like the least important person in the world, and for a second, Sakura doesn’t get it. But he does look up, finally, and his Sharingan’s not a Sharingan anymore. It’s more black than before, with the center a red, six-pointed star, and black lines crisscrossing themselves inside it. Kakashi swears, which she hasn’t heard yet, and she’s guessing this means something bad.

Once they get a good look, Sasuke’s eyes fade back to black, and he looks down at Naruto.

Kakashi removes the final needle, and almost instantly, Naruto opens his eyes, waking with a gasp. “What happened, what—” he starts to say, and she isn’t thinking when she suddenly slaps him. “Hey, what was that for?”

“For scaring me,” she says, standing, and trying to calm down her heart palpitations. “We thought you were dead, Naruto. You were _dead._ ”

“Wait, what, dead?” he says, sitting up with Kakashi’s help. “Where’s that Haku guy with the ice?”

As Kakashi answers, “Sasuke took care of it,” Sakura looks up, and realizes their friend is gone.

 

 

So dying and needing to be saved pretty much sucked, but what sucks even more is that Sasuke won’t even let himself be around long enough for Naruto to talk to him. He always has some excuse to be anywhere that isn’t by them, and even though Kakashi-sensei insists he should just give his friend time and it’ll just blow over, he’s sick of it already.

It doesn’t, though. Even when they were heading back, Sasuke stuck by Kakashi-sensei, hands in his pockets as he walked, and pointedly ignoring everything. By the time they reach home, Naruto can’t take it anymore. “Did we do something?” he asks Sakura finally, deciding he can’t figure this out on his own because when his friend wants to, he can block off any hint of what’s going on in his head. Now it’s been about four days, and even coming back to Konoha isn’t as satisfying as it should be, because Sasuke just ran off.

When she frowns, Naruto realizes she knows too, which means he’s the only one in the dark, and that’s just not right. “Uh, kind of,” she answers. “He’s just being weird about it, though, he should be over it by now. But, basically, me and Kakashi only thought you were dead for about three minutes. I’m not positive, but I think for Sasuke it was more like twenty.”

“He got mad at me for _dying_?”

“No, idiot, you scared him. Us.”

To Naruto, it really doesn’t seem like Sasuke’s ever scared of anything, despite those random moments where he just seems to slip out of the present. That’s shaken up, not scared. He didn’t even hesitate when the Demon Brothers attacked, and he already had a plan set against Zabuza the first time, freed them from Haku the second. Maybe it’s unrealistic and stupid considering that Sasuke’s the same age as him, but Naruto can’t really imagine his friend being afraid. And as someone who’s afraid of a lot more than he’s willing to admit, that’s always something Naruto’s always been jealous of.

Alternatively, making Sasuke mad is really easy. But he doesn’t need to be so passive aggressive about it, and not tell Naruto what’s going with him.

Sakura sighs, and says, “Boys. You’re so clueless. You really think his worst fear is snakes?”

He goes to point out she’s not really helping that if she won’t explain anything, but stops when he hears a little kid begging someone to let go of him. One look at Sakura, and they’re both around the corner to the source of the sound, where they find a boy Naruto vaguely recognizes from being in the years below them at the Academy, held up by someone with a Suna-nin forehead protector. There’s a girl, too, with a fan over her back looking embarrassed but not doing anything, and a couple of other kids cowering a few feet away.

When the kids catch sight of Naruto and Sakura, and more importantly the Konoha symbol they wear, they run over. “Help us,” a girl says through her tears, hiccupping, and Naruto was already planning to. “He won’t let Konohamaru go.”

Sakura pats the other boy’s hair and says, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care it,” before she and Naruto push the kids behind them and step forward. “Hey, what’s your problem?”

Now the other two are looking over, and fighting’s not really allowed on the streets, but this guy’s beating up someone who can’t be any older than ten, so Naruto thinks if it comes to it, they might get a free pass. “Let him go,” he says. “There’s no way a kid did anything to you.”

“It’s not that,” the guy says, and somehow manages to be even more of an asshole than Naruto originally thought. “I just don’t like annoying children.”

Then the guy turns, fist raised, but before he can do anything, or Naruto can react, a rock sails from somewhere behind him, hitting the jerk right on the wrist. He helps, dropping Konohamaru to the ground, and a voice says from behind them, “The Kazekage’s son hitting the Hokage’s grandson? Sounds like an act of war.”

There’s Sasuke, leaning against the fence at the corner, a second rock in hand in preparation, and Naruto realizes that’s why the kid looked so familiar. Even if they were different age groups, it’s hard not to know who the Hokage’s grandson is.

Wait, _that_ jerk’s the Kazekage’s son?

As Konohamaru scrambles away, back to his friends, the girl says, “How’d you know that about us?”

Sasuke moves away from the fence, and for the first time in days, stands between Naruto and Sakura. “I’ve been walking around the village all morning,” he answers. “Is it really that surprising someone in the market mentioned the Kazekage’s kids were joining the chuunin exams? Of course, I wasn’t positive it was you, there are more than three Suna gennin in the world, and one’s not here, but you just confirmed it. So where’s the last one?”

While Naruto’s used to his friend knowing everything before he does, this is pushing it.  “You’re the Kazekage’s kids?” he says, turning his attention back to the other two. “You sure don’t act it.” He’s an _orphan_ , and he knows better manners than this guy.

The Kazekage’s son doesn’t like that, though, and reaches behind him, grabbing the thing in bandages and yanking it to the side. “Kankuro, don’t,” his sister starts, but then someone above them says, “Kankuro, you’re an embarrassment to our village.”

Normally Naruto can at least sort of tell if someone’s nearby, but the redhead boy hanging from the tree came out of nowhere. “I’m guessing you’re the third one,” Sasuke says, raising an eyebrow. “If you’re really here for the chuunin exams, at least try not to start a war while you’re at it. Sakura, Naruto, let’s get Konohamaru and his friends home. These three aren’t worth our time.”

This is the first time in days that Sasuke’s actually sounded like Sasuke, so even though Naruto’s got like a billion question, he turns along with his friends, ushering the still whimpering kids along. “What’s your name?” the sister calls out as they reach the end of the road, and Sakura’s shoulders tense.

Without turning around, Sasuke answers, “You’ll find out eventually,” and they’re around the corner before the Suna-nin can ask anything else.

 

 

“You can’t be serious, Kakashi.”

“I thought we discussed this inside.”

Registering his students for the chuunin exams was going to be met with friction because of Naruto, Kakashi knew that, but he wasn’t expecting it to come from Umino Iruka. The other man’s looking at him almost pleadingly, having caught up with him outside a bakery not far from the Hokage’s tower, when he says, “I know, and you’re right, it’s none of my business anymore, but it’s only been three months. You can’t look me in the face and say they’ve improved that much.”

Even after a few weeks, and a slightly terrifying realization that Sasuke might have something deeply wrong with him, Kakashi still can’t figure out how the files from the Academy were so wrong. “They’ve improved that much,” he says bluntly. “I taught Naruto chakra control in a matter of days, his ninjutsu has improved drastically. Sakura’s stamina has increased tenfold. Sasuke’s improved, too, but he barely needed to in order to take these exams. Attention problems? Really?”

“He fell asleep in class more than Shikamaru,” Iruka says. “Shikamaru was tested for narcolepsy. They started when he was seven. We assumed it trauma.”

“Sasuke doesn’t have attention problems. He was bored, not traumatized.” If anything, the Academy might have hindered the kid’s progress. It didn’t give him much room to branch out, and he had no family to offer him any new material. That said, traumatized is still an accurate description, but obviously no one did much to try and help him out. “Admittedly, Naruto does, but he’s smart. You just have to explain things from a different angle than what’s in a textbook, and he learns from doing. All Sakura needed was the time to build up her physical state. Combine that with their teamwork, and they’ve been chuunin level for the past month. Sasuke has been for years.”

As grand as this declaration sounds, he means it. And this includes Naruto, despite his temporary death. While in Zabuza’s water prison, Kakashi had the opportunity to watch all three of them, and Sasuke may have come up with the initial plan, which he never explicitly stated and the others understood anyway, but Naruto and Sakura had to work as a unit for about five minutes. It only took half that time for them to figure out the clone’s style, and adapt, or they would’ve been dead.

Still, Iruka doesn’t seem convinced. “They’re going to have a Forest of Death this year,” he says. “The Naruto I had in class would open that scroll in a heartbeat.”

“They’ve learned a lot,” Kakashi says, and thinks that even if that’s true, Sakura and Sasuke would never give their teammate the opportunity. “They’re going to enter, and they’re going to make it through, Iruka. Besides, there’s something I need to see.”

With his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, Iruka asks, “What is it?”

Though it’s probably a little mean, Kakashi knows he should respect his student’s privacy, and answers, “You might see during the tournament round. See you during test three, Iruka.”

He walks away, leaving Iruka on the corner, and thinks it doesn’t matter, because the other man wouldn’t have understood any reference to the Mangekyo Sharingan anyway.

 

 

After Naruto finally stops trying to ask him what’s going on, Sasuke starts hanging out with his friends again, and it corresponds right with Kakashi handing over the contracts for the chuunin time. Instead of splitting up, they meet at the Haruno’s kitchen table, pouring over the small print while in the other room Kizashi-san and Mebuki-san discuss in low voices how “their kids” are growing up, and oh, doesn’t time fly. Even though Sakura’s pretending she isn’t hearing it, her cheeks are getting pinker by the minute, and Naruto looks half a second away from laughing.

In any other situation, Sasuke would be struggling not to have Sakura’s reaction, because he doesn’t know how to take affection, but the chuunin exams pose something of a problem for him. Logically, he should avoid this, say he doesn’t think they’re ready and ask for another mission outside the walls instead. But on the other hand, he can help stop an invasion, or at the very least lessen the damage, and he knows that by now, Orochimaru already has his eye on him. Just because Sasuke doesn’t enter the exams doesn’t mean he won’t have to deal with an attempt on his agency, already questionable sanity, and self-respect.

Fingers tap the back of his hand, and he jumps. “What?” he says, realizing Sakura, who’s the one who tried to get his attention, said something.

“I asked if you really wanted to do this.”

This is his opportunity to back out. “Yeah, I do,” he says, and feels like he just seals his fate.

They sign at the same time, pens scratching against rough paper, and in a month’s time, he’s going to be back in the Forest of Dead. In a month’s time, he’s going to have to see Orochimaru again, and maybe even make it out intact.

 

 

Because he’s going to need as many attacks as he can get against Orochimaru, and would prefer to continue avoiding suspicion, Sasuke tells his friends to go ahead and asks Kakashi to talk after the meeting where they turn over their contracts. “I want you to teach me how to do your jutsu with the lightning,” he says, keeping his face blank. “The one you used against Zabuza.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Kakashi says, “That’s an advanced technique. One of my own. I don’t know if you’re ready.”

Since he wants to avoid a circular argument, Sasuke figures it’s easier just to prove he can do it, and concentrates, pouring the correct amount of chakra into his hand, and a moment later, the bridge is filled with the sound of birds. Usually Kakashi’s pretty good at hiding his surprise, but for once, it’s so obvious that Sasuke feels childishly proud of himself.

“I copied it,” he says, letting it fade, “but that’s all I can do on my own. Kakashi-sensei, I can do it.”

“But you were in shock,” Kakashi says. “Did you copy this unintentionally?”

During his first time taking the chuunin exams, Sasuke’s copying of Lee’s technique was unintentional, so he knows it’s possible. Nodding, he says, “I was practicing Zabuza’s water clone last night to see if I could recreate it, and did this by accident. What’s it called?”

Kakashi glances around, like he’s afraid someone might show up. “The Chidori,” he says. “You need your Sharingan to use it—only someone with one can use this technique. We need to work on your speed at the same time. Your speed’s good already, but the faster the better.”

“When can we start?”

“Tomorrow. Meet me here at eight.” Which means more like ten, but Sasuke will arrive at nine just to be safe. “And, Sasuke, Naruto’s fine.”

“I know that,” he says, not appreciating the sudden subject change.

With a sigh, Kakashi says, “No, Sasuke, he’s _fine._ Go stay over his house tonight if you need to prove it to yourself, but you can’t go through the exams looking at your teammate like you’re expecting him to collapse any minute. I understand that you—”

Then, before Sasuke can stop himself: “Oh, do you?”

He doesn’t have the right to be angry, and he knows it, but what everything thinks his reaction was about and what was really about are two drastically different things. It has nothing to do with watching his family die; it has everything to do with nearly killing Naruto _twice_ , out of some misguided sense of his own importance _._ Sasuke’s whole life was one screw up after another, and everyone knew it, too—he went seven years of his life living in his brother’s shadow only to kill him for nothing, spent two years more as a thing than a person, and just came close to watching his friend die because he thought he could change something. Now he’s presented with the chance to at least get Orochimaru to back the fuck off of him, and he’s not going to make another mistake. Not this time.

So, no, unless Kakashi time traveled, too, because a long dead ancestor tried to recruit him into an organization bent on destroying the world, then he really doesn’t understand.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he says, and Sasuke jerks his head up, not expecting Kakashi to actually agree with him. “But I do know what it’s like to want to protect a precious person in your life. Besides, if I don’t teach you the Chidori, you’ll just try to teach yourself.”

It’s not a question. Kakashi gives him a pat on a shoulder, and a reminder to meet up at eight.

 

 

When it comes to the chuunin exams, Sasuke’s objective is to use the Mangekyo Sharingan as little as possible, and that includes against Orochimaru, so the Chidori is a necessary measure. “You’re picking it up quickly,” Kakashi says at the end of the first day when Sasuke cuts clean through his first wooden post. “Most Uchiha have a natural affinity with fire, but I think you might have one with lightning.”

“Can you have an affinity with both?” he asks. “I mastered the Kanton jutsu at seven.”

“Well,” Kakashi answers, scratching the back of his head, “that’s complicated. Families have their signature techniques that aren’t kekkei genkai, like the Yamanaka or Nara clans. That’s what the Kanton is, which means you’re now a gennin who can control two nature transformations.”

“That’s not normal?”

Shaking his head, he says, “Jounin are required to control at least two, usually, so it’s a skill learned as a chuunin. Though, to be fair, most gennin are never given the opportunity to learn.”

Sasuke looks to the broken post, splintered and charred. “I heard a rumor about the Kazekage’s youngest son who’s staying in the village for the exam,” he says. “Supposedly he has a shield made of sand. Sand’s earth, right? Which is weak against lightning?”

“That’s true,” Kakashi says, and doesn’t ask how he knows this. “Why? Are you planning on searching out a fight?”

Changing his focus back to Kakashi, Sasuke answers, “No. But when I ran into him, it sounded like he was planning on coming after me.”

When Kakashi passed out the contracts, Naruto told him the whole story, but thankfully neglected to mention the part where Sasuke didn’t keep his mouth shut, and hit too close to the truth about the invasion. Temari’s face went pale the second time he said it, but he thinks it might guarantee that if the people in third test change and he isn’t going against Gaara right away, that any attempted invasion will wait until their fight. That’ll give him time to figure something out if he can’t kill Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.

“To train I’m going to have the three of you fight each other,” Kakashi says. “Whenever Sakura and Naruto are going against each other, practice. We need to find out your limit.”

On one hand, he has more chakra than before, so he’ll definitely have more than two shots, but on the other, the moment he uses the Mangekyo Sharingan he’s screwed. Finding a balance between the two is going to be hard. “What if my limit’s only once a day?” he says.

“Then you better make it count.”

 

 

It’s the day before the exams, and Sasuke’s heading to Sakura’s alone after one last Chidori practice when he knocks shoulders with the spacey redhead outside the hotel housing all the chuunin exam applicants. He’s about to just mumble an apology and continue on his way when he looks up and see who he is.

Though it’s a two year difference between the time he’d meet her and now, Karin doesn’t look any different. “Hey,” she says, mouth scrunching up, “watch it where you’re walking.”

The last time he saw her, she was on the verge of turning seventeen, begging him not to go after Itachi alone. She’d mention offhanded once that they participated in the same exams, but he hadn’t thought anything of it. “Sorry,” he says, realizing that she must already be working for Orochimaru by this point, dead loyal and refusing to believe he could ever do anything wrong. Sasuke never found her annoying the way the others did, but that was one thing he couldn’t stand. “Didn’t mean to.”

As he goes to turn away, she says, “Wait, you look like you’re like my age,” in a completely different tone than just seconds earlier. “Are you entering the exams, too?”

There’s a moment where he thinks about ignoring her, heading to Sakura’s and pretending he didn’t hear, before he decides that depending on how tomorrow goes, he’s about to ruin her life more than it’s already ruined, and the least he can do is give her his name. “Yeah,” he answers. “Konoha gennin. Uchiha Sasuke.”

She grins. “Karin, from Kusagakure,” she says. “Good luck in the exams tomorrow, Sasuke-kun.”

With that, she walks away, hair flouncing behind her, and Sasuke thinks it might kinder just to kill her now.

 

 

They arrive to a fight, and a laughably bad genjutsu that, for some reason, no one but she and Sasuke can apparently see through. A couple Konoha-nin Sakura recognizes from the year ahead of them are on the floor, covered in bruises with hurt expressions on their faces, and one has the thickest eyebrows she’s ever seen.

Together, she and her teammates push themselves through the crowd of people, ignoring what the guys in front of the door are going on about because it’s obviously just scare tactics, and they’re obviously just examiners, and really, no one seems to have pieced that together, either. “Just shut up,” Sasuke says once they’ve finally gotten close enough, cutting the two definitely-not-gennin off before they can ramble further about how everyone here sucks and is going to die. “You aren’t fooling anyone. Let us through, we’re looking for the third floor.”

Some voice she doesn’t recognize says from behind them, “What’s that kid talking about?” and she’s rapidly losing respect for all her competitors.

“It’s a genjutsu,” she says without turning around. “This is the second floor.”

The examiner without the bandages on his face smiles. “So you’ve noticed.”

Faster than she expects, he kicks out, but two things happen simultaneously—Naruto and Sasuke both yank her away before she even has a chance to try and back up herself, and thick eyebrows Spandex boy blocks the examiner’s leg with his hand.

“What happened to the plan?” says his teammate, who from his eyes Sakura’s guessing is Hyuga Neji, Hinata’s cousin the year above them. “ _You’re_ the one who said we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves, Lee.”

Spandex Boy, or Lee, just ignores him, pivoting abruptly to face Sakura. “I’m Rock Lee,” he says to her, and only to her. “What’s your name?”

Even if he’s weird, Mom and Dad taught her to always be polite, and he introduced himself first, so she doesn’t have much of a choice other than to answer, “Haruno Sakura.”

There’s an awkward sort of pause thing before Lee sticks up his thumb and smiles so widely she’s slightly afraid his face is about to break. “Let’s go out, Sakura-chan,” he says, and to her utter amazement, she’s pretty sure Sasuke just paled at that. “I’ll protect you until I die!”

“Sorry,” she says, inching closer to her teammates. “I’m not interested.”

“Hey, you,” Neji says, cutting Lee off and nodding to Sasuke. “You’re the Uchiha kid, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke answers. “And you’re a Hyuga. Sakura, what’re you doing?”

Sakura, wanting to get out of this crowd, grabs one of his hands, and one of Naruto’s, and dragging them along. Before they can make it far, though, Lee suddenly shows up on the balcony above them, and this better not turn into some weird battle for her affections. “Uchiha,” he says, jumping down. “Fight me.”

All Sasuke does is scan him from his orange leg warmers to his bowl cut before asking, “Why?” Next to her, Naruto rolls her eyes, and once he finds a situation ridiculous, she knows it’s bad.

And people say girls are stupid about spontaneous crushes.

“I hear you’re a genius,” Lee says, which leads to the question of who’s been talking about them. “I want to test my technique against yours. And…” He trails off, looking to her, before winking, and just _ew._

“I’ll fight you,” Naruto says, and she follows his gaze to Sasuke, finding his Sharingan activated, even though he’s normally so levelheaded.

Is it possible that he’s jealous? she wonders, and quickly puts the thought out of her head.

Naruto charges, but Lee’s already there to counter it. All they have is half an hour, so her friend better finish off this guy quick.

Despite how fast they both are, and even without a Sharingan, there are enough natural pauses in taijutsu that Sakura can follow what’s going on, and she can tell Lee’s surprised Naruto’s keeping up. Unfortunately, it also seems to be at a complete standstill, and though it’s probably a total waste of chakra, Sasuke’s keeping his Sharingan on.

Then, suddenly—Naruto throws a punch, misses, and Lee’s coming up from below, twisting, and kicking upwards. It connects straight with her friend’s chin, causing a crack loud enough for her to hear from here. She instinctively goes to grab Sasuke’s hand, freaked out and worried, only to find him gone. She blinks, confused, until Naruto suddenly says, “Hey, I _had_ him, Sasuke!”

Sasuke’s eyes are back to black, and she realizes he was just using it to see if he needed to cut in. Well, good, because she wasn’t looking to see Naruto injured in a taijutsu fight before the exams even started. “Just, be quiet, idiot,” Sasuke says, before turning to Lee. “I’m not fighting you. Get out of here. And stop bothering Sakura.”

Even though that should be enough, it isn’t, because Lee looks between her and Sasuke, says, “Oh,” like he just put something together when there’s nothing to put together. That’s when his sensei appears.

Sometimes Sakura’s life is really, really weird. The gigantic turtle just acts as further proof, and she really hopes that the chuunin exams are more normal than this.

 

 

Ever since Sakura said the thing about Sasuke actually being afraid of more than snakes, Naruto’s been paying more attention, but there’s a difference between being shaken up, and being scared. Right now, though? Definitely freaked out, even if he’s trying to hide it. “We’re staying away from him,” he says, nodding in some grey haired Konoha-nin’s direction. “Understand?”

He turns his eyes downwards immediately after, playing with a loose thread on his shorts, and Naruto tries to do that thing where he’s looking without really looking. “Why?” he asks, because the guy doesn’t _seem_ weird. “And how do you know him?”

“I met him when I was a kid,” Sasuke says, and snaps the thread. “He’s like a year older than Itachi, and he’s just—stay away, okay? Kabuto’s a creep.”

Down on the floor, the Kabuto person is talking to the other gennin from their year. With a frown, Sakura asks, “Should we say something to the others?” and Sasuke shakes his head. “Yeah, I guess none of us are good enough friends with them to be discreet about it.”

Seeing Sasuke scared is kind of uncomfortable, really, but Naruto doesn’t know how to lighten the tension. He’s not as oblivious as people think he is, either, or clueless like Sakura said; something bad went down, even if Sasuke’s being vague about it. “I want to fight Thick Brows again,” Naruto says, steering the conversation away in case Sakura’s going to try and press for answers. Sometimes there’s just stuff people don’t want to talk about. “I think I can beat him next time.”

“I thought you were going to win,” Sakura says, “until he did that kick. I guess it stunned you, right?”

Yeah, well, anyone getting knocked in the chin like that would have the same reaction. “Could’ve beaten him if I used Kage Bunshin,” he says. “Just didn’t want to show off my best move al—”

“Clones won’t work.”

Sasuke’s still not looking up, and his whole body’s tense. Glancing at Sakura, Naruto says, “What’d you mean? Did you copy it?”

Nodding, his friend says, “It’s pure taijutsu, no chakra involved, but your clones are delicate. One hit from him, and they’ll burst, and he could sweep out multiple with one kick. I couldn’t tell what, but there was something slowing him down.”

Considering how fast Lee was, the idea that something’s slowing him down is unfair. “So what can I do about it?”

“Get smart, and fast,” Sasuke says, and glances down again where three people with sound notes on their forehead protectors rush Kabuto. “We’re avoiding them, too.”

Naruto’s about to ask why, again, and gets his answer a second later when Kabuto throws up. Oh, that’s more gross than thick eyebrows. “Yeah,” Sakura says. “Definitely avoiding them.”

With a puff of smoke, the examiners all appear, shooing the sound note team off, and the chuunin exams begin.

 

 

Though it’s hard, Sasuke eventually manages to calm himself down to actually read over the test, and finds it easier than he remembers. Then again, most of these he can answer from personal experience, so even though numbers and word problems aren’t exactly his strong point, and that’s what most of these questions are, he finishes it faster than Sakura. For the rest of the test, Sasuke takes the opportunity to analyze everyone’s skill. Just because it’s based on intelligence gathering, and not combat, doesn’t mean there’s not something to be gleaned from it.

Again, no one notices his Sharingan, which is easier to hide than the Byakugan; Hinata and Neji are relying on that, and no one says a thing. Kiba, expectedly, is relying on Akamaru, while Shino’s using his bugs. Both Sakura and Shikamaru can answer without using anything, smart enough without having to cheat. Ino uses her family’s jutsu to, annoyingly, get inside Sakura’s head instead of one of the examiners’, and she’ll probably pass it on to Chouji. Like the two of them, Lee and Tenten are tag-teaming, doing something with strings and mirrors.

Like Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Sakura, Kabuto finishes without cheating, because he’s jounin level and shouldn’t even be here, that bastard (who absolutely gets off on forcing people onto metal tables with chakra repressing restraints for the sake of nonconsensual experimentation), and the three Oto-nin are using various sound-based methods. Gaara’s using his sand eye; Kankuro is still dependent on his puppet; Temari must be waiting on one of her brothers, because she’s not doing anything. Several people are relying on low-level genjutsu Ibiki can probably see right through. Karin’s hands are curled in her lap, eyes closed with one eyebrow twitching, so she’s doing something with chakra levels.

Once Kankuro asks to leave for the bathroom, Sasuke knows the test is drawing to a close. He completely forgot how much of a dick Gaara was, because he’s done with the exam, Temari’s waiting on answers, and he’s not offering any help when it wouldn’t be that hard to use sand to control her hand or pencil.

Question ten comes just as Kankuro returns, and Sasuke sits straighter in his seat, deactivating his Sharingan. “First, for the tenth question,” Ibiki says, tucking his hands behind his back, “you must decide whether or not to take it. If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero—you fail, along with your teammates.

“The second rule is that if you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly, you’ll lose the right to take the chuunin exam again. Those that aren’t confident can choose not to take it, and come back next year. Now let’s begin…the tenth question.”

Last time, Naruto had some giant freak out that convinced everyone to stay. It never occurred to Sasuke that in teaching his friend stealth as a kid, he taught him not to draw too much attention to himself, either. Three teams leave, less than expected, more than before, and already, results have changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There aren't many chapters left until after the time skip, where I'm comfortable having ships (as a secondary plot, not as the focus), so I figure I should ask now. Do you guys want any? I'm taking votes. Not SasuKarin; I like Karin, I just don't like the ship.


	4. chapter iii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Forest of Death would be a horrible place to die in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is weird, because I had to a write a lot of fight scenes with three main characters significantly more skilled than they were at this point in the manga. That's harder than it sounds.

Since Naruto doesn’t call out Anko to her face, leaving it to a low mumble about how everyone involved in this has something wrong with them, Orochimaru doesn’t reveal himself. This is probably a good thing, because the last thing Sasuke needs is a worse display of panic than he had in reaction to seeing Kabuto again.

“We should go after Kiba, Hinata, and Shino,” Sakura says as she puts the scroll in Sasuke’s pack. “The Sharingan’s more powerful than the Byakugan, right?”

Before they go after anyone, they have to deal with a legendary sannin with an obsession with snakes and kids with kekkei genkai. “The Byakugan can see chakra more clearly,” he says as the gate swings open and down out of sight to their right, another team whoops, “but there has to be a blind spot. My eyes can find it.”

They enter, the gate closing behind them, and Sasuke’s had nightmares about this place for years. It’s exactly how he remembered, which isn’t as comforting as it should be, but this is the deviation point. This is where everything went wrong.

Not this time, though. First he’ll get through Orochimaru, whether it takes killing him or just throwing him off, and then they’ll get a second scroll. Maybe by they’ll even be able to finish this before five days are up.

If only it were that easy.

 

 

What saves Sasuke is that Orochimaru isn’t trying to kill him.

He doesn’t summon his strongest snakes, which is good, because a couple hits from a Kanton, and they’re dead. That’s all it takes for Orochimaru to realize they’re not going to work, and to switch to taijutsu. By some miracle, he doesn’t try to go after Sakura either, but maybe that’s because Sasuke is too much to handle. Electric charged kunai don’t actually need to connect to do damage, after all, and don’t take nearly the same amount of chakra the Chidori does.

The Sharingan can see right through any attempts to use replacement and transformation, but that doesn't mean he’s fast enough to actually catch anything. He waits until he’s positive it’s really Orochimaru, and is close, before gathering lightning into his hand. For all the legendary sannin’s brilliancy, he’s still not expecting a kid of twelve to be as fast as Sasuke is, and the Chidori slams into his stomach. It doesn’t do as much damage as it would on  a normal person, but momentum brings him right past before Orochimaru has the chance to form a counterattack. Except then his neck is stretching out, right in line with Sasuke’s shoulder, too fast to stop, and he _panics._

It happens in a flash that leaves an approaching Sakura in the bushes across the clearing, and Orochimaru head back where it belongs, his face melting. The air smells like ozone and something metallic, and Sasuke’s skin is still tingling. For the time in nearly a year, he just exploded the Chidori for his body.

Orochimaru doesn’t pause, and must get that he needs to finish this quickly if he’s going to finish this at all, because his speed abruptly increases. Sasuke lets the Mangekyo Sharingan bleed into his normal one, the world growing sharper in definition, his perception greater, and inevitably, his panic worse. Maybe it’s adrenaline, maybe it’s that he has more chakra than he thought, but he doesn’t feel worn down. Seeing every one of Orochimaru’s movements is easy, but keeping up with him isn’t, and it’s not much of a surprise when the attack comes from behind. But it’s not much of a surprise, either, when instincts kick in for something Sasuke’s never done before, and he doesn’t give Orochimaru the chance to mark him.

Awakening Susanoo is rare even by Uchiha standards, and this isn’t a full one, but the ribcage surrounds his body before Orochimaru can get him. This is an ultimate defense, like Gaara’s sand shield, but more draining.

After working with Itachi, Orochimaru unfortunately knows that, too. “Your eyes might be more impressive than your brother’s, boy,” he says, and Sasuke knows him well enough to see he’s wary now. “How long can you keep this up?”

Sasuke doesn’t answer, just stops thinking about the consequences, and feels more than a little satisfied when the flames erupt on Orochimaru’s chest, burning him through. Even through the pain from his bleeding eye, and a growing buzzing in his head, Sasuke has enough control to keep Amaterasu latched onto Orochimaru’s body, forcing it to spread. Behind him, Sakura shouts Sasuke’s name, a shrill echo through the still forest, and by some miracle, Orochimaru flees.

Right then Naruto returns, dumb smile on his face in preparation to save both of them, and Susanoo fades. Sasuke’s vision dims, and he stumbles, awake long enough for Sakura to catch him. The last time this fight happened, they stayed right here, but with Orochimaru definitely still alive, and definitely still out to get him, they need to leave.

“Get us out of here,” he says, voice lower than expected, fingers loosely twisted in the fabric of her dress. “Carry me if you have to, just get us, get us—”

Her hand touches his face, wiping the blood from under his cheek. “You’re going to be fine,” he hears her say, and gives in to his own exhaustion.

 

 

“He was after Sasuke, specifically,” Sakura says after an hour of silence. “We need to find a scroll fast so they let us into the tower, and we can tell someone.”

Since Naruto missed the whole fight, instead spending some quality time with the insides of a snake, he doesn’t really know what happened, and outside of “help me,” Sakura hasn’t said anything yet. “Sasuke needs to be awake for that first,” he says, adjusting his hold on his friend’s legs. Even though he’s shorter, he found during the mission in the Wave Country that carrying Sasuke over his back like this is easy; the guy is deceptively light. “He probably won’t be able to fight, but he can at least dodge, right?”

Sakura worries her bottom lip. “I know,” she says. “But Naruto, you didn’t see it. I—look, this is going to sound so insane, but I think Sasuke knew who he was.”

“What? Like the way he knew that Kabuto guy?”

Shaking her head, Sakura says, “Okay, so, this person wasn’t a gennin, I can tell you that. His killing intent was so strong I could barely _breath_ , right? Well, it didn’t work on Sasuke. He—he just freaked out. It took me until almost the end of the fight to get myself out of that trance because he didn’t help me, and he’s always so protective of us, but I don’t know. The guy did this _weird_ attack, and it was like Sasuke knew he was coming because he did something he definitely didn’t mean to do. And I know it wasn’t intentional because I got hit by the blast. It was Kakashi’s Chidori but bigger.”

From how pale her face’s gotten, Naruto’s guessing the reason she was so quiet is because she’s been trying to figure out a way to tell him. She’s also definitely scared, and Naruto doesn’t think either of them have ever been scared of Sasuke before. “Did he say anything?”

“Which one?”

“Uh, either?”

Again, Sakura bites her lip. “Sasuke didn’t, or I don’t think,” she says. “The other guy did, but I didn’t really hear what. I just caught the words ‘brother’ and ‘up,’ so it had to do with Itachi. That was after this… _thing_ showed up around him—Sasuke, I mean. Whatever the guy said about Itachi, though, really got to him, because that’s when that black fire appeared, and I thought Sasuke was going to kill him for a second. I think he meant to.”

Though Kakashi said all shinobi have to kill eventually, Naruto’s hoping to avoid it as long as possible, and maybe it’s stupid, but he assumed Sasuke and Sakura felt the same way. Well, she does, he’s guessing. Sasuke never really seemed into it before. Actually, considering that Sasuke supposedly purposely avoided killing Haku, Naruto’s pretty sure he isn’t so big on the idea, either. Or wasn’t, anyway.

“There were snakes,” Sakura continues. “Like the one that ate you, but probably smaller, and the guy was controlling them. I’m not positive, but our textbook last year had a section on Summoning. What if Sasuke knew him? And that’s why he’s so afraid of snakes?”

A chill runs through Naruto’s body. “No way,” he says. “Creepy snake man a sort of important life detail to leave out.”

As much as he wants to believe they’ve told each other every important thing about themselves, he knows Sasuke’s got at least one big secret from the way he acts, and Naruto’s not really pushy about it, because he’s figured out by now that his friend’s parents kind of sucked. He’ll never say that to Sasuke’s face or anything, but the few things he has said about his family haven’t been good. So, no, he doesn’t really talk about anything pre-everyone dying, but he’s said enough over the past five years that Naruto thinks that if Sasuke really did know this guy, it would’ve come up in conversation at least one.

Then again, he never did explain why snakes freaked him out so much. Maybe Sakura has a point.

With a sigh, Sakura says, “I’m just worried. That whole fight was… _wrong._ I know it wasn’t on purpose, but he attacked me. We can talk to him when he’s awake.” In a lower voice, she adds, “Not even in here two hours and it’s already a mess.”

Seeing as he’s already been eaten by a snake, and Sasuke’s unconscious from chakra exhaustion, Naruto can’t disagree with that. Instead he just adjusts his hold his friend again, and speeds up the pace.

 

 

The fight comes to them instead of the other way around, and Sasuke’s still out cold. It’s the Oto-nin team, and though Naruto’s using his clones to take any sound-based attacks, Sakura still ends up on her knees only five minutes in, the other girl’s hand tangled in her hair.

Even though Naruto’s trying to get to her to help, he’s stuck defending an unconscious Sasuke while fighting off two opponents at once. Sakura’s on her own, the most useless member of the team, and the Oto-nin knows it too. “Your hair’s so soft,” the girl says. “If you spent half the time on your looks that you do on training, maybe you’d have a chance.”

Contrary to popular belief, Sakura’s length has nothing to do with Sasuke, even if it is what started the rumor that he likes girls with long hair. It’s just how she likes it, but she cares more about her life, and about the lives her teammates, that she does her looks, so she ignores the Oto-nin’s, “Do you really think that’s going to work on _me_ , little girl?” when she grabs a kunai from her pouch.

“Not really,” she answers, and reaches up, cutting away her hair before the girl has time to figure out her plan. Before she has time to react, either, Sakura twists, and drives the kunai into the back of the Oto-nin’s hand.

Though her scream attracts everyone else’s attention, it pays to spend five years training with Konoha’s most recent child prodigy—she’s fast, more so than the boy coming after her, and she’s switched places with a log seconds before his sound waves can hit her. Instead it connects with his own teammate, who’s sent reeling backing from the injury.

Sakura finds the real Naruto in his crowd of clones, gives him one short nod, and he gets it. She’s okay, she can handle this opponent as long as focuses on his. Even though she’s still a little unsteady from getting hit by the aftershock of Sasuke’s Chidori earlier, she has a plan, and enough anger to give her the adrenaline rush she needed. These three aren’t getting away with their scroll, and she doesn’t care how hurt she has to get to insure that.

Twice, she tricks her opponent with Kawarimi no Jutsu before coming at him from behind. If there’s one thing she excels at, it’s chakra control, and she remembers what Sasuke did against the Demon Brothers, focusing more into his feet to get greater height in his jump. Logic says if she applies the same principle to her hand, even her weak taijutsu will do some damage. Naruto has clones and a chakra demon, Sasuke has a kekkei genkai, all she has logic. Sometimes, that has to be enough.

Too late, the Oto-nin notices her, and her first connects with his shoulder right as he goes to turn, sending him flying forward with a crack louder than Naruto’s jaw earlier. His side collides with a tree, knocking his head, and she sees his eyes slid out of focus for a moment. Unfortunately, she’s not physically strong enough on her own for that to have as much impact as it would have if one of the boys tried, and her hand didn’t appreciate the force. They aren’t broken, she can feel that much, but her index and middle finger are definitely fractured, and her wrist sprained.

The Oto-nin isn’t so great on his feet when he gets his bearings, but the brace he uses to control sound isn’t so much as cracked, and he destroys the clone Naruto sends after him instantly. To make it worse, the girl’s getting to her feet, too. Even Naruto’s chakra can’t last forever without dipping into the Kyuubi’s, and she has a feeling no one here will like the results of that. No matter how many clones he makes to fight against the three of them, to defend Sasuke and now her, too, there’s only so long they can last, and only so much he can do at once.

When the boy Oto-nin charges her, she goes to do a Bunshin no Jutsu of her own, the lesser form of Naruto’s, but stops at the second seal. There’s a kunai straight through his brace, through his arm, and then Sasuke’s saying, “Back off, or I’ll slit her throat.”

Everyone turns, Sakura included, and the girl’s on her knees with her eyes large and breathing shallow in the way that can only mean she’s under a very strong genjutsu. Behind her is Sasuke, holding a kunai to her jugular, and his eyes are bright red. From the too-tense way his shoulders are set, though, she can tell he doesn’t mean it, and that comes as more of a relief than it should in this situation.

Thankfully, the Oto-nin don’t seem to realize that, because the one covered in the bandages that went against Naruto scrambles in his bag to pull out the scroll they need. “Take it,” the Oto-nin says, throwing it onto the ground, and rolling it towards Naruto’s feet. “Let Kin go.”

“Naruto, pick it up,” Sasuke says without looking at him. “Both of you leave, I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

“But—”

“Naruto, just do it,” Sakura says, realizing that if he does let go, and they’re still here, all it will do is kick start another fight. Either the tone in her voice or the way she’s looking at him convinces Naruto they know what they’re doing, because he bends down, scooping the scrolling up on the ground, and when she reaches him, backs away with her.

They don’t have to wait long before Sasuke shows up, nearly slipping coming down hill, and she and Naruto get to him before he can fall, putting one of his arms around each of them before he even has to ask. “Trapped them in a genjutsu,” he says, keeping up with them but obviously struggling. “All of them—don’t know how long it’ll last. We have both scrolls?”

“Yeah,” she answers, and he stumbles on root. This is bad. He shouldn’t have used that much chakra in one day. “We’re heading to the tower even if means we don’t sleep.”

With a weak nod, he says, “Good. Questioned them—I need to talk to Kakashi. Ugh, my eyes.”

That’s all the warning she and Naruto get before Sasuke suddenly turns to dead weight, dragging them down. They hit the ground at the bottom of the hill hard, landing in a tangle of brushes and fallen twigs, and this is going to be a long few hours.

 

 

Considering that he’s the leader of a very abnormal gennin team, Kakashi doesn’t get much time to himself. Because of this, he should probably be taking the week his three students are stuck in the Forest of Death as a time to relax, but instead he’s in the medical records office, flipping through the file labeled _Uchiha Sasuke._ He should’ve done this earlier, but he’s been spending the hours this place is open with the subject of his concerns, cutting down on any opportunity to check.

For a medical file of a shinobi-in-training, Sasuke’s is unnervingly thin. Outside of his birth certificate and notes on regular medical checkups, there’s nothing from the first seven years of his life, which means his parents never brought him in for illness or injury. On one hand, that’s a bad sign for Sasuke’s home life, but on the other, it means getting to the information Kakashi’s here doesn’t take long. It’s the eighth report, and five pages long. Most is a psychological assessment.

Sasuke was admitted unconscious with a cut on his cheek, and a scrape on his elbow, but that’s all for physical injuries. The rest says exactly Kakashi was worried about—there were signs of genjutsu torture. _Patient tells two different stories_ , the note box reads. _Patient describes the event as though he were there, but claims not to have arrived until the murder of his parents. Patient’s confusion of timeline confirms that genjutsu torture included a distortion of space and time. Conclusion: the genjutsu in question forced the patient to relive the massacre as though he were there._

Distortion of time and space? That sounds like the Mangekyo Sharingan, something Sasuke hasn’t mentioned his brother having. The medical-nin back then missed something, though, Kakashi can see that; if all Itachi did was force Sasuke to relive the massacre, which would be traumatic enough, then it’s doubtful he would refuse to think his brother was actually guilty. No, Itachi planted something in Sasuke’s head. That much is obvious. This isn’t enough to prove anything to the kid, though. If Kakashi’s really going to find what he needs for Sasuke to believe the truth before the kid tries to look into it on his own, then he’s going to need to find Itachi’s mission reports.

As he slips Sasuke’s file back where it belongs, he hears someone at the entrance to the room. “Hatake Kakashi?” someone calls out. “Are you in here?”

 “Yeah,” Kakashi answers, coming out from around the shelves to find a chuunin he doesn’t recognize standing in the doorway. “What is it?”

“You’re needed at the tower,” the woman says, taking a step back. “There’s something to see, and it involves your team.”

 

 

Having Orochimaru appear in Konoha after over a decade is bad enough, but to have his first move to be attacking a twelve-year-old just makes it worse. According to the other jounin in the tower, Anko’s out there now hunting him down, but Kakashi doesn’t have high hopes. Whatever Orochimaru was trying to accomplish failed, because Sasuke, Kakashi decides, is a little terrifying. Twelve-year-old gennin only three months out of the Academy aren’t supposed to stand up to a legendary sannin and live. And they definitely aren’t supposed to be able to beat them back.

The cameras, apparently, lost track of them for a while, but they’re in sight again, not far away from the tower. They should be here by one in the morning if they have the scroll, and don’t stop to sleep. Though chuunin are supposed to greet gennin at the entrance, Kakashi’s switching places with Iruka, because he’s going to need answers, but more than that, all of them are going to need to be healed. Even Naruto is walking with a limp, and if they get attacked again anytime soon, they’re all screwed. It doesn’t help that Sasuke’s unconscious, and he must be lighter than Kakashi realized, because Sakura’s the one carrying him over her back.

Even though there are more than a few exceptionally skilled gennin in the exam, Orochimaru hasn’t attacked anyone else, or at least not where the camera picked up. Maybe he’s too injured, maybe Anko caught up with him. Maybe his only target was Sasuke. That seems the most likely, and it’s the one concerning Kakashi the most. As if his student doesn’t have enough going on.

For now, the best he can do is wait, and hope his team makes it back in one piece.

 

 

According to Naruto and Sakura, it took a lot of hiding, and they weren’t able to stop do anything other than drink a couple times, but they make it to the tower without further incident. When Sasuke first woke up, it had just come into view, and now they’re inside, on the floor, opening the scrolls and finishing the second test within a couple of hours of day two.

Last time they had Iruka, but somehow, Kakashi still doesn’t come as a surprise. “Congrats, team,” he says, and his chipper tone is definitely forced, “you passed the second part of the exam.”

As the three of them stand, Sasuke says, “I know that’s a riddle, but we need to talk. Now. Somewhere private.”

“Not yet,” Kakashi says, looking all of them over. “You’re seeing a medic first.”

Sasuke wants to insist that no, he’s fine, he’s gotten all the sleep he’s needed, but he can still feel the effects of a chakra burn out. Though Naruto’s uninjured by now, Sakura’s covered in her share of cuts and bruises, too. Besides, this gives him enough time to figure out how much he can realistically say.

There’s only so much one person can do to try to avoid a war. As selfish as it is, he’d rather avoid I&T and hospitalization while doing it.

 

 

After explaining the two fights, the Sandaime comes in, and Sakura and Naruto are sent out. “The man you fought is Orochimaru,” the Sandaime says, taking a seat across from Sasuke and Kakashi. “Years ago, he was a shinobi of Konoha. Now, he’s one of our most powerful enemies. It’s quite impressive that you fought against him, and are still here for me to tell you that, Sasuke. I hear you have something to tell me in return?”

This is less nerve wrecking than Sasuke expected, and more uncomfortable. “Yes, Hokage-sama,” he says, and it comes out sounding as awkward as he feels. “I summoned Susanoo partially during the fight, and he said ‘your eyes are more impressive than your brother’s, boy. Your body will serve better after all.’ So I’m guessing he wants me for something involving the Sharingan, and tried Itachi first.”

There’s a short pause, because it’s not as though anyone knows how to react to finding out a grown man admitted to wanting a kid’s body, before the Sandaime says, “Did he attempt to…bite you at all?”

“I think?” Sasuke answers. “He stretched out his neck with his mouth open. That’s when I activated Susanoo.”

The Sandaime sighs, slow and tired. “Orochimaru seems to be out of Konoha at this time,” he says, “but you’re not to be on your own the duration of your stay here, and to find temporary living arrangements for yourself once you’re out. It’s safer if you’re not alone at night when it’s easiest to attack.”

Between the prelims and the tournament, Orochimaru’s going to be too busy with Suna to worry about sending anyone after that one gennin who got away. “There’s something else, too,” Sasuke says. “He might not have said much, but the Oto-nin did. Otogakure is his village, they’re here on his order. They were sent after us to ‘retrieve’ me. They said they weren’t the only ones, though, and there was a spy in the Konoha-nin gennin. The one wrapped in bandages called him Yakushi.”

After the other two exchange a very long look, Kakashi asks, “What did you do to get answers, Sasuke?”

Earlier, they’d explained about the threat and the genjutsu, but he hadn’t asked. Sasuke realizes he was waiting for Naruto and Sakura to be out of the room. “Just said I’d kill the girl if they didn’t tell me anything,” he says. “I didn’t get to ask much before the one with the kunai in his arm said that Kin wasn’t worth the trouble, so I trapped both of them in genjutsu, too, and ran.”

Though he hadn’t bothered with questioning, he really did do it to avoid killing them; if there are different people in the prelims, then the matches will change, and what if Sakura or Naruto end up against Gaara? If it were Sakura, maybe she would listen to advice and forfeit, but Naruto wouldn’t, and either he’d be severely injured, or he’d lose control. Anyone else Sasuke thinks they can both handle, but Gaara’s still someone to worry about.

“You’ve done very well, Sasuke,” the Sandaime says. “The information you gave us is valuable. I think you’ve had a harrowing enough two days, though. You can return to your teammates, but the three of you need to speak of this to no one.”

He swears he won’t, and Kakashi’s allowed to escort him back to where Naruto and Sakura are waiting. “Orochimaru’s not going to get you, Sasuke,” Kakashi tells him quietly once they’re out of the room. “No one’s going to let him.”

As he’s still young, and Orochimaru knows what to expect now, Sasuke knows he can’t do this alone. “Okay,” he says, and believes Kakashi because he doesn’t have a choice.

 

 

All three Oto-nin ended up dead under mysterious circumstances in the Forest of Death, and Kabuto and his team aren’t there when everyone meets up for the prelims. But Karin and her team are here, as well as one from Getsugakure that definitely wasn’t here last time. Apparently showing up early was enough to change things around.

One thing hasn’t changed though. Sasuke’s name shows up first, and, unfortunately, it’s Karin’s that comes up with it.

“Sasuke-kun,” she says when they face off against each other, waiting for the signal, “when I said I’d see you at the exams, this isn’t what I meant, you know.”

There’s a sweeter edge to her than there will be in a couple of years. As the announce raises his hand, ready to call for the fight to start, her glasses catch the light, and she can see his eyes perfectly. “I’m sorry, Karin,” he says, and when he blinks, the Sharingan’s activated.

He uses what he did to Shikamaru a year ago, and Orochimaru must not have told her about him, because she isn’t prepared. One second she’s upright, bringing her hands to form a seal, and the next she’s on the ground.

In the end, Karin isn’t meant for single combat, and definitely not against someone with his skill level. Maybe if he’d given her time to figure out his chakra she could have done something, but it was better he finish this fast rather than drag it out. When the jounin announces him winner, he’s met by a shocked silence. As he just ended a match in under a minute, Sasuke can’t blame anyone for it.

“Is she okay?” he asks the medical-nin who rushes out onto the floor, before walking away, because all she might know about him is his name, but he knows way too much about her.

With a slight nod, the medic answers, “She’ll be fine in a few minutes. Nice work, by the way.”

That didn’t feel like nice work. And if he’s this guilty after fighting Karin, then what the hell is he going to do if he has to fight Sakura or Naruto in the third test?

 

 

When Sakura’s fight finally comes, she thinks the world must be laughing at her.  “You cut your hair,” Ino says, neither of them moving at first. “How’s Sasuke-kun going to love you now, Forehead Girl?”

The way she says “Sasuke-kun” is almost taunting, even though they both know she likes him, too. “These are poisoned,” Sakura says, removing three kunai from her pouch. “Try not to get hit, Yamanaka.”

“You’re lying,” Ino says, so sure, and Sakura smirks. “Oh, like you’d ever really do something like that.”

“Do you want to test me?” she asks, and launches all three.

In Ino’s attempt to dodge, there’s a second where she’s stuck looking away, which gives Sakura just enough time to complete the seals for another Bunshin. When Ino regains focus, all four look like they’re throwing more, but Sakura’s already disguised herself as a kunai aimed right for the other girl’s eye.

Expectedly, Ino dodges, and Sakura reforms, landing behind her. She throws herself forward, focusing a lesser amount of chakra into her fist than earlier to less the damage she does to herself, and like the Oto-nin in the forest, Ino doesn’t notice until it’s too late, entirely focused on trying to figure out which clone is real. The hit lands solidly against her temple as she turns her head, sending her skidding ten feet across the floor. Momentum drags Sakura another foot where she lands on her knees with more impact than is probably advisable for her joints, but the pain doesn’t matter. Neither does the throbbing in her hand.

“Winner, Haruno Sakura,” the announcer says, and the boys are already at her side, helping her off the ground.

 

 

In the Academy, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all got to see everyone’s trademark technique, but that didn’t apply to their group. For Sakura, she doesn’t have one; Sasuke tried once, and was told he wasn’t allowed; Naruto was completely useless. Basically, though, this means that they know how everyone else in the Rookie Nine fights, but no one here had any clue what their styles all are.

Like Sasuke, Naruto ends up with someone from their village—Hinata, with the eyes. That’s a thing he happens to know a lot about, too, because after Sasuke got told off for using his Sharingan in class, he ranted about how she was allowed to use hers, and it was unfair. When the announcer calls the start of the match, he creates two dozen clones, all with matching chakra signatures, to confuse the Byakugan. Now he has to just not be hit by her palm technique thing.

As it turns out, Hinata’s not very good, or at least not compared to Sakura and Sasuke, who Naruto’s used to fighting. She takes out a bunch of his clones with her taijutsu, but he just makes more, having the chakra supply for it, until there’s enough to overwhelm her (they’re coming from all sides, so at least one has to be in that blind spot Sasuke was talking about). Then he leaps, coming in from above with a kunai at the ready, feeling a lot like Sakura, and by the time Hinata looks up, Naruto’s already too close.

Her hand hits his stomach, which hurts like hell, but he’ll worry about it later. In the same moment, he brings the back of the kunai down into the pressure point in her shoulder. He jumps away before she can bring him with her, and she falls to the ground with a painful-sound _thud_. Ouch.

Though not unconscious, she’s definitely dazed. When he’s announced winner, he looks up, and finds his whole team smiling at him like they couldn’t be prouder.

 

 

If Gaara doesn’t wait for the fight with Sasuke, his plan to end that battle in the arena will fall through, because their first match isn’t against each other. Instead, the first round of the tournament reads out in the weirder way than Sasuke thought it would.

First: Naruto & Neji, like before; Second: Temari & Shino; Third: Sakura & Chouji; Fourth: Sasuke & Shikamaru; Fifth: Lee & Gaara.

While Sasuke feels like he should feel at least a little sympathy for Lee, he’s more pissed that he has Shikamaru as an opponent. This is a problem, because Shikamaru is smart. Losing to Shikamaru would be bad for more than just Sasuke’s pride. Since Gaara’s inevitably going to beat Lee, that would mean Shikamaru would have to face down a Jinchuruki who enjoys killing just a bit too much. No amount of intelligence would save him from that sand. You can’t trap sand, and it moves independently of Gaara because it’s an independent entity. Sasuke hadn’t realized he was actually going to have to be worried about this, dammit.  

As they’re all herded out, he hears Shikamaru say, “Against the Sharingan? Troublesome,” and Sasuke realizes how he’s going to win.

There’s so much about his skill, fighting style, and technique that Shikamaru doesn’t know. Like with Karin, Sasuke’s just going to have to make sure to end this quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Sasuke would be so dead if Orochimaru was trying to kill him and not recruit him. Also, I know that was very negative of Hinata, but she really did suck in part I, and Naruto beat Neji. I can't imagine a fight between the two of them being that hard. 
> 
> Also! You have until the next chapter comes out to finish up voting on ships.


	5. chapter iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends make for good punching bags.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, SasuSaku won, with NaruSasuSaku as a close second, and platonic coming in third. The main focus of this story is their friendship, and that evolving dynamic through the situation changes, so the romantic relationship is going to be a very light aspect. I hope I don't lose too many readers for this.

Naruto’s chakra control still needs work, and Kakashi-sensei’s having trouble teaching him, so he recruited the help of someone else for a week to help him out. Meanwhile, the rest of them hide out in the Uchiha compound, even though Sasuke’s been staying with Kakashi, because it has so many seals and barriers that it’s borderline impossible for anyone to try to spy in on them, and use it for training.

Beating Chouji is going to be hard, but Sakura has confidence that she can do it. He defeated Kiba of all people to get in, using his size to basically just run him and Akamaru over while Shikamaru defeated Tenten, and Neji that Kankuro guy. But all of Team Seven (including Naruto, despite what people think) are clever, and Sakura doesn’t doubt that they’re going to make it through. Of course, she’s worried about Sasuke’s second match, but that’s another matter altogether.

According to Kakashi, they’re going to alternate between practicing on each other, and practicing alone. “Any ideas yet?” he asks. “Either of you?”

So far, she’s drawing a blank, but it’s only been a day, so she thinks that’s probably allowed. Sasuke, of course, already has one. “I need to take him out as soon as I can,” he says, “with as little chakra as possible. I rely on my Sharingan a lot during while fighting, and he’s going to know that, so I need to use something else. I need to block out his vision immediately.”

“Smart,” Kakashi says, and Sakura doesn’t bother to hide it when she rolls her eyes. By now she’s borderline convinced Sasuke can tell the future or something because people aren’t supposed to know everything this quickly. “Look, there’s something I can show you that won’t help with that, but will help with dodging his ability to trap you. Normally I’d never it show it to a gennin, but I think with your Sharingan’s ability to copy it, you can do it.”

“What about me?” Sakura says. “Is there anything you can show me?”

With a smile, Kakashi says, “We’re going to find your nature transformation. I’ve shown Sasuke his. Your chakra control is good enough that I think you can pull it off, too.”

Learning nature transformation as a chuunin is hard enough; the thought of learning it as a gennin is more exciting than it should be. The boys have rubbed off on her so much it’s ridiculous. “Okay,” she says. “When do we start?”

As he pulls a paper from his pouch, he says, “How about now?”

Even cutting her hair isn’t enough to dampen the moment of seeing the look on Sasuke’s face when she finds out she has water nature transformation. It takes ten minutes for the fit of giggles to die down, because this means ninety nine percent of his clan jutsu are now going to pointless against her. 

There’s officially nothing quite like the feeling of realizing she finally has something her teammates don’t.

 

 

Sometimes, Naruto practices summoning with Jiraiya-sensei. Others, he’s with his team, and Jiraiya’s there, too. Apparently he and Kakashi know each other, which is kind of awkward, but it means that most of the time, he can do both at once.

It also means that the two of them get distracted while their students are on break, giving Naruto and Sakura time to spring their question on their friend. Because Sasuke’s less likely to snap at her, it’s Sakura who asks, “Did you know him? Orochimaru?”

“No,” Sasuke says, no hesitation. “Why?”

Since Naruto didn’t see the fight, he doesn’t really get what Sakura means, and that answer came at the right speed for it to be true. Still, from the drop in her shoulders, she doesn't seem convinced. “You reacted like you did,” she says. “Sasuke, I’ve seen you fight strong opponents before. You didn’t even panic like that during your fight with Haku.”

Sasuke looks down, and tears at the grass. “You didn’t hear what he said, did you?” he says.

“About your brother? _Midway_ through the fight?”

Shaking his head, he says, “Naruto was missing, you were barely breathing, and snakes freak me out. I guess the killing intent was enough to block off your senses. He just—” Sasuke pauses, taking a deep breath. “There’re some things he said I really don't want to talk about, okay?”

“Did you at least tell the Hokage?” Naruto says, because that's the sort of thing a person's supposed to do in this situation.

Again, Sasuke shakes his head. “It wasn’t important,” he says, more a mumble than anything else, and snaps a blade of grass in two. “It was just to try and scare me once he realized killing intent wasn’t effective. It worked.”

Like with the thing with that Kabuto guy, Naruto’s able to put two and two together, and his friend doesn’t need to come out and say it for him to get the threat. You don’t grow up alone without hearing a few stories. Sakura must get it too, because that’s probably not enough to shake suspicion, but it’s enough that she says, “How about we get back to training?” and drops the subject.

This just made everything even worse than before. Supposedly Orochimaru will come after Sasuke again, and Naruto promises himself that the guy’s never even going to get the chance to take his friend away.

 

 

With Sasuke’s more advanced Sharingan, copying is easier than it was when he learned the Chidori. Every time Kakashi shows him something new, he figures it out in a few tries, or sometimes even the first, if it was one he already knew. When it comes to the creation of his own lightning attacks, though, he needs to make it look as though he’s at least somewhat struggling. It very quickly becomes annoying, and he can’t even lie and say he practiced at night, because he lives with Kakashi until it’s deemed safe he can go back to living by himself.

Twisting the Chidori into different forms hadn’t been an easy thing to teach himself, and he’d refused to let Orochimaru help him. Outside of the basics, all of Sasuke’s kenjutsu had been his own, too, and his chokuto was so useful he’s going to need to think of a way to incorporate that into his common fighting style again without making it seem as though the idea came from nowhere. Kakashi already thinks he’s weird enough already, if the way he reacted to Sasuke copying the Raiton: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu on the first try was any indication. When Itachi was twelve, he was better than this, but he’d also been a gennin for five years. Sasuke doesn’t have an excuse for why his learning curve is so quick, no matter how many times the word “genius” is thrown around.

It’s a week before the chuunin exams now, and Sasuke finally lets himself master forming the Chidori into a mass of senbon needles. “That’s amazing, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura says, as if she hadn’t just completed the Hahonryu yesterday. “How did you figure that out on your own?”

“I’ve already electrically charged kunai,” he says, glancing back at the charred target that’s spent the past four days taking abuse. “It’s the same principle, just without a conduit.”

“Next time we go on a mission that involves combat,” Sakura says, coming to stand next to him, “we should try to figure out how to combine this with mine. Kakashi was telling me how lightning can interact with water to make an attack stronger.”

If he can’t prevent Gaara’s attack in the arena, then they’re going to have to pursue. Sakura unknowingly just gave them a new way to reduce how long the fight will take if comes to that. “Kakashi’s reading, and Naruto’s practicing,” Sasuke says. “We could try now. There’s nothing better to do. And it’s technically practice.”

She smiles widely, short hair blowing in her face, and looks off to the side, towards Naruto and Jiraiya. “Give me a minute to recuperate,” she says. “Then definitely. This is going to be so great.”

“I bet Naruto’s nature transformation is earth or wind,” Sasuke says, watching their friend get yelled at by an oversized frog. “Then we won’t have a way to combine a three point attack.”

“Well, not everyone can be compatible,” she says, and laughs. “We’re a weird team.”

“I think Gai’s team is weirder,” he says, because he doesn’t want to admit he saved the three of them from being considerably worse. Before Madara shot him back here, Team Seven was about to become the legendary sannin redone, and getting compared to Orochimaru isn’t something Sasuke wants. “And the Sharingan is still better than the Byakugan, I don’t care what they said.”

A few days ago they ran into Team Gai out in Ichiraku, and Neji said, right in front of Naruto, that he’d like the opportunity to test which doujutsu was stronger, if Sasuke managed to get past Lee. Well, irony’s going to come for them both, because Naruto’s going to defeat Neji in under twenty minutes, and Lee isn’t going to like the consequences of his fight. That said, Sasuke is definitely going to advance to round two. He has to, or Shikamaru isn’t going to like the consequences, either, and stopping Gaara is going to be even harder.

The invasion is inevitable, which Sasuke’s starting to understand. Outside of killing Orochimaru, there’s not really a way to stop it, and he’s currently pretending to be the Kazekage. Regardless of Sasuke’s intelligence and knowledge from the future, there’s no way in hell a Konoha gennin is going to be able to get anywhere near the Kazekage—and even if he did, that’ll turn an invasion that ends after one battle and doesn’t have the worst results in the world into a full out war. So, this gives Sasuke two options: chase after Gaara, or try to save the Hokage.

As a loyal Konoha-nin, he should probably do the latter, but from what he managed to gather, Tsunade did pretty well as the Godaime. The Sandaime will also seal Orochimaru’s arms, which isn’t enough to kill him on the spot, but is enough to make him easier to kill afterwards. Staying inactive on that front leaves Sasuke with a bad feeling, but as a twelve-year-old, really the best he can hope to do is prevent a worsening situation by stopping Gaara from entering the populated areas of the village. Without the seal, and a greater chakra reserve, Sasuke can actually last longer, too.

Last time he did this, Sakura almost died, and it was his fault for not being strong enough. He already failed at protecting Naruto against Haku. He’s not going to fail her, too.

 

 

“I thought with the age restriction,” Jiraiya says, “that I would never see another kid below at least fifteen who could pull off a Shunshin. I think the last one I saw who could was you.”

It’s the day before the exams, and Team Seven is getting in a few hours left of practice. When Kakashi decided to teach Sasuke the Konoha Shunshin right at the beginning of the month, he hadn’t expected his student to pick it up in just a day. Of course, this ended up being to their advantage; he had time to learn more techniques, and perfect what he did know, but that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable watching him go from one end of the practice field to the next in a puff of smoke.

For Jiraiya, the last person he saw pull this off at the age of twelve was Kakashi. For Kakashi, the last person was Itachi. Even after four months, the similarity between the two brothers is enough to unnerve him. “I thought the same thing about Summoning,” Kakashi says. “I’ve stopped being surprised by the three of them.”

Mastery of nature transformation at their age is rare, too, and now both Sasuke and Sakura can pull it off. “Eh, the skill was there,” Jiraiya says. “Naruto just needed the extra push. You lucked out, Kakashi. This is a good group of kids.”

“They’re protective,” Kakashi says, watching Sakura and Sasuke practice their aim with their new combined attack, the water shot off from her Hahonryu wrapping around his needles of lightning. “I hope that’s enough to keep Sasuke out of trouble.”

“Half of Konoha’s looking out for him,” Jiraiya says, and Kakashi knows this must be hard for him. Few things hurt the way betrayal does. “I’m sure you won’t have to deal with a student roommate forever.”

Living with Sasuke isn’t as awkward as Kakashi expected; his student is used to living on his own, so he’s neat, and cleans up after himself, and spends most of his time with his teammates, so he’s really only around to sleep. Orochimaru making another move isn’t the only trouble Kakashi’s talking about, though. Training his team hasn’t left him all that much time to look into old mission files, and even if it had, he wasn’t going to spring anything on Sasuke right before the tournament. But it’s unlikely that he won’t be raised a rank, no matter what his performance there, now that even the Hokage’s seen the footage of his fight against Orochimaru, and chuunin have access to mission reports, too. If Kakashi had to guess, he’d say Naruto and Sakura know about Sasuke’s feelings towards the massacre, and they’re all close enough those two would probably help if he tries to look into anything on his own.

No, not if. When. Unless, that is, Kakashi manages to get his hands on something at least resembling convincing enough proof. Someone really did hand him a timed explosive tag, and he doesn’t have long before it goes off.

As of now, he’s been keeping this to himself, not wanting to risk letting his student, or anyone that age, get brought in for questioning, but it would probably help to get a second opinion. There’s probably a more delicate way to do this, and if anyone in this village will keep his mouth shut, it’s Jiraiya. After a moment of deliberation, Kakashi says, “I know,” before asking, “How much do you know about the Mangekyo Sharingan?”

“Not as much as I probably should,” Jiraiya answers without questioning the abruptness of the subject change. “Why? Did Sasuke do something you didn’t know about it?”

“No,” Kakashi says. “But, see, the normal Sharingan, with enough control, can plant suggestions in a person’s mind. The Mangekyo Sharingan is stronger. The genjutsu it can create can tamper with memories, plant ideas strong enough to last for years…and Uchiha Itachi has it.”

There’s a sudden shout from all three of his students, and when he looks over, the post Sakura and Sasuke were practicing caught fire from the strength of a lightning attack. “Should we help them?” Jiraiya says, but Sakura’s already on it, wasting her Hahonryu, and Naruto’s laughing, while Sasuke looks on the verge of a heart attack. Before Kakashi can answer, the fire’s out, and she sinks to the ground in exhaustion. “Did Sasuke tell you that? Did his brother do something to him?”

After another quick glance in the direction of his student to make sure they’re all definitely distracted, Kakashi explains about the conversation in the Wave Country, and the results of checking the medical file. “So either it’s genjutsu,” he says, “or his home life was bad enough that he’s willingly refusing to believe reality. That would explain file was so thin. But I think it’s probably the first, because I’ve seen him disappear into his head in the middle of conversations more than once.”

Kakashi’s heard this called “disassociation” before, and is a classic sign of aftermath of genjutsu trauma—and usually preventable, if given help. In a shinobi village, though, help is typically supplied by a family. As Sasuke’s was caused by him losing his in its entirety, Kakashi thought someone would’ve stepped up for the kid, but he shouldn’t be surprised that’s too much to hope for. There was something wrong with the file, too, which didn’t occur to him until much later, the worry over his team taking the forefront for a solid week. The report in there on Sasuke’s admitted state is essentially the report on the Uchiha Massacre, since he’s the only witness; five pages is just too short. It was done in a rush, like no one could be bothered to help him outside of that cut and scrape.

Actually, that would explain him getting shoved back into the Uchiha compound. The adults of the village were more concerned about finding and apprehending Itachi than they were with making sure a little boy was going to be okay.

On the other side of the training field, Sasuke says something, frown on his face, and Naruto laughs again. With a frown of his own, Jiraiya says, “There's a third option, Kakashi.” 

“What?”

“Something else happened he hasn’t told you about yet.”

That is, of course, a logical conclusion, but Kakashi thinks he purposely might have avoided thinking it himself. After all, that means he would have to directly ask his student about that night, and he doesn’t know how Sasuke will react. People are normally predictable, even shinobi, who aren’t supposed to be. This is something Kakashi’s learned over the years, because he wouldn't have been allowed half the A-and-S-class missions he’s been given if he couldn’t read people as well as he did. But his entire team defied what he expected, and Sasuke in particular. The survivor of a massacre refusing to believe the one who was responsible was actually responsible? Really, Kakashi hadn’t seen that one coming.

“After tomorrow,” he says as Naruto suddenly tries to tackle Sasuke, only to be kicked away. “I'll look into it then. And if I can’t find anything, I’ll ask.”

When Sakura joins in without warning, she sweeps Sasuke off his feet by hooking her leg around his knees, knocking him down, and standing. She laughs, high and clear in the chilly, late November air, and for a moment, Kakashi is reminded so strongly of him and Rin it hurts.

 

 

First Naruto wins within twenty minutes, shocking everyone into enthusiastic applause, and then Temari the Suna-nin wins to the surprise of no one. By the time it’s Sakura's turn, no one knows what to think, and she’d reprimand Naruto for biting his nails if she wasn’t already in the arena. And nervous herself. When she looks up, Sasuke actually smiles at her, but it doesn’t really help to make her feel better the way he’s probably hoping. She’d feel a lot more confident if they were down here helping her.

The announcer calls for the match’s start, and gets out of the way as quick as he can. Chouji, looking more determined than she’s ever seen him, brings together his hands for a seal, but she’s faster. If there’s one thing her team drilled into her, it’s be as quick as she can.

In this match, speed’s especially important, because she doesn’t have all that much chakra, even with the training to build up her stamina, and there’s no natural water around to help. She takes a deep breath, and in the same moment Chouji blows himself up twice his normal size, breathes out, covering the arena in a mist only she can see through. He immediately stops, squinting through the fog.

She pulls out her first kunai and throws, slicing into his cheek, and immediately runs, repeating the process a few times, hitting different areas of the body until he has enough time to pull out a shuriken with an explosive tag and toss it aimlessly into the mist. When it explodes, he’s obviously hoping to dispel the fog, but this chakra, not natural, and all it does is absorb the blast. Even though she doesn’t know him very well, she knows him well enough to predict what he’s going to do next; with no other option, and no way to see anyway, he finishes his family’s jutsu, and rolls into a ball.

There’s a moment, right before the jutsu’s completed, where he’s vulnerable, and she grabs the opportunity. Water spins in her hand, a miniature whirlpool in palm, and shoots off in rapid fire projectiles. It’s hard, it’s tiring, but it’s effective; he’s rocked backwards from the force, unable to finish, and it keeps coming. Even if it’s not as strong as it would be if she had Sasuke’s lightning infused with it, it’s strong enough—eyes, throat, chest, the insides of the wrist. Before her fight with Zabuza, she never thought of water as particularly deadly, but it is, and Chouji doesn’t stand a chance.

In the shinobi world, there’s a universal truth: the bigger you are, the harder you fall. With Chouji as blown up as he is, he falls with force enough to rock the ground. It’s enough to knock her backwards, slam her painfully into the arena’s tree, and her concentration breaks. The mist clears. He can see her now, but that’s all right, because he’s dazed, down to his normal size now that his concentration is broken, too, and when he charges her, she runs to meet him.

Water jutsu wasn’t the only thing she practiced this past month. As it turns out, there’s a way to moderate how much chakra she pours into whatever limb she’s attacking with without suffering physical repercussions herself, something she practiced a lot on Naruto since he heals so quickly. Chouji’s just fast enough that when she jumps, his fist catches her side, definitely bruising her ribs if not cracking them, but she’s prepared. There’s chakra in her feet, and even through the pain, it’s not difficult to kick out, her foot connecting solidly with his forehead.

He rocks back, and she falls, landing painfully on her back. Just in time she rolls out of the way from an attempt to stomp on her, and his hands go up again, ready to form to seals to become a ball again. She leaps back up, not having enough time to do anything special, but still slams her fist into a cut on his arm she made with her kunai earlier, digging her nails in. It’s about as girly and cheap as she can get, but it’s effective in causing a short shock of pain, and she focuses chakra into her fist, pulling back and punching him in the nose at the same time he grabs hard at her opposite arm.

It cracks. Audibly.

Even with his nose bent in a direction it shouldn’t be, a definite concussion, and blood everywhere, she knows he won’t be out of it for long. There’s a low-level genjutsu Sasuke taught back before they even graduated the Academy that she tried, and failed, to use on Zabuza, but Chouji doesn’t have anywhere near that level of skill. Whatever it does, she doesn’t know because her friend never told her, but it takes four hand seals, and no one can doubt it works because Chouji’s scream rings loudly through the arena. Finally, she backs away, far enough that if he’s faking he can’t catch her by surprise.

The silence lasts for three counts. Then the announcer says, “Winner, Haruno Sakura,” and the audience explodes with applause.

 

 

There’s one person in this whole competition that Shikamaru was terrified of facing, and it’s not the creepy Suna-nin murder kid. No, it’s Uchiha Sasuke, and if Shikamaru was willing to deal with his teammate’s annoying question as to why he did it, he’d forfeit before the match even started.

Maybe it’s that everyone’s too dumb to see it, or maybe they’re intentionally not seeing it because he’s supposed to be such a genius or whatever, but there’s something _deeply_ wrong with the guy. A year and a half ago, when they were facing each other down for that team building exercise, all it took was one hit from the Sharingan, and Shikamaru was down in three minutes. He saw nothing—or at least that’s what he told everyone. Truth is, Sasuke got bitched at enough, obviously didn’t have a clue he did anything other than knock his opponent out, and Shikamaru figured it wasn’t his place to break his classmate’s privacy. If Sasuke didn’t know, that it was an unconscious transfer, which meant it was a memory, and for weeks Shikamaru had nightmares of someone telling him to “breathe through the pain” while cutting into his abdomen. Yeah, so he’s not all that enthusiastic about them going against each other again.

To make it worse, Sasuke seems to almost exclusively rely on his eyes, if the preliminary fight was anything to go by. Shikamaru was expecting to not have to practice much, but he did, which was annoying, and focused mostly on learning how to dispel a genjutsu quick enough that even the Sharingan won’t have time to affect him. As bad as it sounds, he never wants to go through that again.

Sasuke doesn’t look so happy himself, to be fair, and from the looks on the audiences’ faces, everyone thinks this match is decided. It’s not that Shikamaru is a weak shinobi or anything; showing off is just too time consuming, and troublesome, and his parents understood him enough not to push him. After the incident with the team building exercise, he learned to appreciate that. At then eleven, now twelve, there aren’t many people who could’ve pulled that on the oh-so-great Uchiha Sasuke, so it had to have been someone at home. Being known as some prodigy genius isn’t worth it.

A murmur goes through the crowd, and the jounin ref looks back and forth between the two of them. “Start!” he says, and that’s all the warning Shikamaru gets before Sasuke throws a kunai with an explosive tag to the ground between them that goes off instantly at impact. It covers the area with so much dust and dirt that Shikamaru can’t see and dammit, Team Kakashi is filled with a group of sly assholes more clever than anyone gave them credit for, Sasuke included.

When he bursts back into view, it’s directly in front of Shikamaru, as expected, because he can’t exactly use his eyes from any other angle. The Sharingan’s shining, somehow different than last time, but Shikamaru doesn’t give him time to use it. He’s in range to connect their shadows, which Shikamaru does, and with Sasuke trapped, it’s safe to shut his eyes long enough to dispel anything.

But he doesn’t get the opportunity.

In the Academy, Sasuke’s ninjutsu was never beyond what he needed, and Shikamaru knew he was good, but no one said anything about being able to control lightning, or create a Kage Bunshin. The Sasuke he has trapped, who isn’t Sasuke, explodes with a static crack, sending blue electricity through the air, and even though Shikamaru jumps back, it isn’t enough to avoid getting the aftershock. His arms go numb, his ears ring, and his knees wobble.

That’s when the birds come. Or, not really birds, he realizes, but the sound, like nothing he’s ever heard before, and he looks up to find Sasuke on the wall, Sharingan bright red in the sunlight, but it’s too late, because lightning’s a hard thing to dodge. Senbon needles that aren’t actual needles pierces into Shikamaru’s skin, and the electricity shoots through him.

He falls, awake but unable to move, the places the needles hit the perfect, non-vital places to cause temporary paralysis, but not permanent injury. How annoying, he thinks, half hysterical because he honestly hadn’t expected to be beaten, and the jounin ref pronounces a completely uninjured Uchiha Sasuke the winner of the match.

 

 

Gaara destroys Lee, only just barely stopped by Gai and assorted other jounin, but Sasuke knows he’s right about catching the Suna-nin siblings’ interest enough to make them wait the moment nothing happens afterwards. At the request of the “Kazekage” and other lords he doesn’t care about, the secondary matches get flipped on their head, so instead of Naruto and Temari going first, and it’s Sasuke and Gaara. Good. It gets this over with faster.

“Are you going to be okay this soon after you last fight?” Sakura asks, face still a little pale from her own, and despite everything that’s about to go down, Sasuke’s a little relieved this means he doesn’t need to go against her.

“Yeah,” he says, “I’ll be fine,” and tries to ignore that even Naruto looks worried as he walks away.

While the jounin doesn’t look worried, there’s definitely a nervous tension in his shoulders. Gaara’s actually smiling. There’s an awkward pause, like everyone’s expecting Sasuke to forfeit, before the jounin says, “Start!” and runs away.

Unlike last time, Sasuke doesn’t make the first attack. After realizing he’s not going to anything more than activate the Sharingan, Gaara’s sand lashes out, and Sasuke ducks, making it look as though he’s about to run forward, but changes tactics at the last second. A Shunshin is a weird feeling to get used to, but it’s the fasted move he has, and he appears beside his opponent, Chidori-charged kunai in hand. The sand knocks it away, but that’s what he was counting on, because Gaara looks at him at the same time, and even an impenetrable, murderous Tailed-Beast shield isn’t enough to protect him from his own mind.

Gaara, who’s always been fast enough to kill assassins before they can complete hand seals, has never had to deal with illusions before, and Sasuke’s are instantaneous. The other boy falls to his knees, clutching his head, because while this genjutsu won’t fuck with his perception of time and space, it’s still enough to cause him intense pain. Unfortunately, the match isn’t over, the sand attacking on his own, but he can’t create his inner shield without concentration, and Sasuke’s faster than the automatic one. He dodges once, twice, Chidori gathered in his hand, and it bursts in a bloody jolt of blue against Gaara’s shoulder.

It’s only because of a Shunshin that Sasuke gets out of the way fast enough to avoid getting caught in the circle of sand, because the real pain snapped Gaara out of the illusion. Last time Sasuke couldn’t tell the sudden change in chakra, but now he can, and he purposely placed himself near the jounin’s safe place, expecting this. “His chakra’s changing to Jinchuruki levels,” Sasuke says, which he thinks doesn’t really make sense as a sentence, and the panic in his voice isn’t as faked as he wants it to be. “Get everyone out. Something’s wrong.”

“How the hell do you—”

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto’s teammate, idiot, _hurry._ ”

Before either of them can do anything, the sand circle explodes, the stands are hit with the sleeping genjutsu, and this is just about the definition of fucking up. Sasuke doesn’t wait for instructions, turning to pursue, and pauses just long enough to find a very awake Sakura in the crowd, motioning for her to follow.

He doesn’t wait to see what she’ll do, and just hopes Naruto catches up to him sooner than before.

 

 

It’s the three of them, Shikamaru, and Shino, and Naruto’s absolutely not surprised when Sasuke takes charge. “You two, head off the Suna-nin pursuing us,” he says within minutes of them catching up to him, nodding to Shikamaru and Shino. “These two I need with me.”

“The three of you against _those_ three?” Shikamaru says. “You sure you’ll be all right?”

“Yeah. If you finish them off, meet up with us. Try not to die.”

With that cheery message, they split, and Naruto’s best skill isn’t exactly tracking, but Gaara didn’t seem to worry much about being followed, because the destruction he left behind is an easy trail. “So, how tired are the two of you?” he asks, because Sasuke fought two matches, and Sakura’s lasted a while.

The bruises, cuts, and her shallow breath all prove she’s a total liar, but Sakura still says, “I’m fine. It’s been long enough since my fight.”

Sasuke doesn’t answer, which isn’t a good sign. Instead he grabs both of them by the elbow, says, “Hide your chakra signatures,” and suddenly yanks them off the path they’re following.

Though hiding your chakra signature is a skill taught at the Academy, and then taught to them again by Kakashi, Naruto’s not very good at it (he’s not very good at a lot of things), but apparently what he manages is passable, because he hears a loud creaking sound behind them, followed by someone swearing, and realizes they just barely dodged a fight with Kankuro.

Finally coming across Gaara is weirdly quick, and Sasuke said something about the other boy being a Jinchuruki, too, but it’s not until Naruto’s actually in close proximity that he feels it. The chakra’s the same, almost identical, and being associated with this guy is _so_ not good.

“Distract him,” Sasuke says. “I’m getting Temari out of here.”

She looks dead terrified, and not of them, so Naruto doesn’t argue. Instead he looks to Sakura, who nods, and when Gaara yells loud enough to make ears bleed, she runs to the right while Naruto takes the left. Sasuke’s a lot faster than both of them, and they can keep up with the sand shield, but not get past it. This quickly stops mattering, though, because one second Gaara’s Gaara, and then the next, he transforms into something Naruto has the potential of becoming, and never wants to be.

Below them, he hears Sasuke say, “We aren’t going to kill him, I promise, just go stop it,” and Temari take off with one last, worried glance behind her. Whatever Sasuke said to her must’ve been good, because with a look like that, Naruto doesn’t think she’d leave her little brother with the enemy without a convincing reason.

Sometimes it seriously feels like his friend always knows what to say. This time, though, it’s Naruto’s turn.

Sasuke makes it up to them right as sand flies out, independent of the shield, and he just barely pushes Sakura out of the way as Naruto dodges on his own. “I’m going to try it with the frogs!” he says, and his teammates get that this means they’re supposed to be the distractions until he gets the big one to come out.

As he fails on his first try, summoning one of the smaller ones, Sakura and Sasuke pull off their combined lightning needle water attack thing, which breaks apart the sand before it even comes close. They can’t last forever, though, and Naruto knows it. “Come on,” he says to the frog. “You’ve got to help me!”

“What do you expect _me_ to do?” the frog says, and Sakura screams, her chakra giving out, obviously, because she starts slipping off the branch, Sasuke catching her at the last second. Oh, no, they’re directly in line to Gaara, they can’t get out of the way, Naruto’s not close enough, they’re going to—

There’s a giant, see-through creature surrounding the two of them as they kneel on the branch, Sasuke shielding Sakura’s body with his, and Gaara bounces off it like he hit a wall. It’s impressive, and kind of scary, but Naruto knows that this is it for his teammates, and if he doesn’t do something fast, they’re dead. So he bites his thumb, puts his hand down onto the contract, and pours as much chakra into it as he can.

The creature fades as the big frog appears, and Sasuke passes out on the branch. This time, Naruto’s going to be the one saving his friend, because he owes him that much, at least. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to write in Shikamaru's point of view for the fight to show why he lost, because I feel like he's one of the harder people in the series to beat.


	6. chapter v

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel causes a few misunderstandings about Sasuke's childhood, and saving Naruto wasn't supposed to including joining the trip to find the new Hokage.

In the forest, during fight against Gaara, Sasuke lied to Temari and said he saw another Suna-nin take out the Kazekage right as they all fled, so this invasion was obviously a betrayal to both their villages. As his daughter, she was the only person with any hope to stop it. She was too worried to pay attention to where she was looking, so one trick with the Sharingan to add a touch of suggestibility, and she was gone.

There was honestly a moment there where Sasuke thought he might have been able to stop Orochimaru from killing the Hokage, but Temari was too late. And somehow, he misses the funeral again anyway. Chakra burnout from using three forms of the Chidori, three Shunshin, a Kage Bunshin, and finally Susanoo was severe enough to land him in the hospital for a week. All Sakura got was two days. Naruto, of course, didn’t need much more than a few bandages, and goes with Jiraiya to find Tsunade, which can only mean one thing.

Itachi’s coming back to Konoha.

By the time Sakura comes to see him, Naruto’s already left, and she’s still wearing all black. “He turned his frog into a giant fox,” she says, “and beat Gaara back down into being Gaara. Gave him this speech about how he needs to man up and stop whining because everyone has issues, and he’s not the only Jinchuruki in the world or something like that. You stopped breathing for a few minutes.”

She smiles when she says it, small and self-deprecating, and Sasuke doesn’t know how to tell her it isn’t her fault. “I guess I should’ve given the two of you a warning,” he says, twisting the corner of the blanket around his finger. “Once Naruto didn’t summon what he was trying for, I figured the Mangekyo Sharingan was our best chance, but I didn’t have the chakra for it.”

“Yeah, well, you and me both,” she says with a sigh, crossing her legs and leaning back in the uncomfortable hospital chair. “The best I could do was kneel and hold a kunai, but if anyone actually came near us, we’d have been—hello?”

She’s broken off by a knock on the door, so it can’t be Kakashi. Sasuke’s expected maybe Lee on crutches, or Hinata looking for an oblivious Naruto, but instead it’s Temari who says, “Is this is the room of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura?”

“Yes,” Sakura answers, and when she looks to Sasuke in question, he shrugs, because he doesn’t get it either. “Come in.”

When Temari enters, her cheeks are flushed, and she’s carrying a small vase of yellow, blue, and white flowers. The yellows are daffodils, but that’s all Sasuke can tell. Sakura’s eyebrows shoot up, though, so he’s guessing this has to do with her kunoichi flower arranging classes.

“So, you lied through your teeth,” Temari says, putting the vase down on the small table next to the bed, “but you were actually right. My father’s been dead for weeks. Kankuro and I thought something was weird, we should’ve tried harder to stop it, but, anyway. Just, thank you for not taking away Gaara, too. I know he’s not—but he’s my brother, you know?”

Yeah, and she’s going to love him anyway. That’s the fucked up thing about family. “You and your other brother didn’t look happy enough to be here willingly,” he says. “We needed to leave someone to pick up the pieces. That’s why you’re still here, isn’t it?”

With a nod, she says, “The lords here are useless as fuck as always. Suna’s going to pay reparations, and me and my brothers need to run around making sure the Council doesn’t make any stupid decisions when choosing the next Kazekage, but there’s a chance we’re going to have an even stronger alliance than before. We have the same enemy now.”

“Orochimaru?” Sakura says, and Temari nods again. Sasuke nearly rips the blanket. “Good. I think it’s clear both villages are going to need all the allies they can get.”

For Suna, the next big threat they need to worry about isn’t Orochimaru. They were just a means to an end. “I have some influence as the Kazekage’s—former Kazekage’s—daughter,” she says. “I’m going to use as much of that as I can to make sure they choose someone good. Maybe we’ll see each other at the next chuunin exams, if the two of you aren’t promoted.”

The Konoha-nin all need to wait for Tsunade, but the Suna-nin aren’t advancing under the grounds of trying to instigate war. “In case we are,” Sakura says, pulling a pen out of her shuriken pouch and a piece of paper off the pad on the table, “I’m going to give you my address. Send me a letter to tell us how it goes.”

“I will. I promise,” Temari says,  folding the note and slipping it into her pocket. “Well, I better go back. We’re returning to Suna tonight.”

After they exchange the goodbyes, and she leaves, Sasuke throws the covers off, and slips out of bed, ignoring the way his body protests doing much more than lying around. “I just thought of something,” he says before she can ask. “Do you want to help me do something slightly illegal?”

This is normally the sort of offer he’d extend to Naruto, but his friend isn’t here, so the job’s falling to Sakura instead. With a shrug, she says, “If it means keeping you from killing yourself,” and follows him when he leaves to find the receptionist’s desk downstairs.

Kakashi’s going to murder them for this if they get caught, but Sasuke thinks that with Konoha in disarray like this, there’s no better opportunity. It’s a risk he’s willing to take.

 

 

 

With so many shinobi dead, no one’s guarding the archive room. Though he’s nowhere near what Karin is, Sasuke’s still pretty good at sensing for chakra, and Sakura’s not that bad either, so between the two of them, they should be able to tell if someone’s coming. It’s the reason he brought her along; there’s only so much he can do himself, and he’d rather not be found and asked unnecessary questions.

“Are you prepared for this?” Sakura asks quietly as they walk through the stacks, her hand twisted in the back of his shirt in order to navigate. His Sharingan lets him see in the dark, but there’s not enough light in here for her eyes to properly adjust. “There’s going to be stuff in there you don’t know about.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says, and it’s true, because there’s nothing in the report on the Uchiha Massacre that’s going to scare him. He knows the story. Most of it isn’t going to be there, and most of what will is going to his own testimony. “Here, stop. It’s the shelf above me.”

Getting the box down is hard, but he does, and there’s so much dust that no one must’ve touched these files in a long time. As one of the founding families of Konoha, the Uchiha essentially has its own shelf, and files are stacked by date. The box on the far left has one in it, and is dated starting this year, so it has to be his graduation. The one currently on the floor ends with the massacre. Despite only being a gennin, Sasuke really _is_ arguably allowed in here to look over his family records, as he’s the only Uchiha left in Konoha. Still, Shimura Danzo wouldn’t be too happy if he found Sasuke poking around in here, so rather than push the questionable legality of his being here, he’s just going to make sure no one finds out.

As he sits, so does Sakura, and she says, “So what exactly are you looking for?”

That’s actually a very good question, Sasuke realizes. Though he knows the story, that would all be in ANBU records, if it’s written down at all, but there has to be something in here the raises suspicion. “Anything out of place,” he answers, because he can’t say what without getting too specific.

Despite telling himself that he’s not going to be affected by this, his hand is still shaking as he picks up the file labeled _The Uchiha Massacre._ Actually seeing it written out is a lot different than hearing it. His fingers tap the edge, more nervous than he wants to admit, and tries to remind himself that there’s nothing here that can do much more damage than Madara, or Itachi. Itachi, who’s coming back to Konoha to help the Akatsuki get Naruto.

If the Forest of Death was the point where everything went wrong, then this encounter with Itachi was the point Sasuke snapped—as easily as his wrist.

_You’re in the way, little brother._

“Sasuke-kun!”

The spaces between his fingers is sparking in the beginning of a Chidori he hadn’t realized he was forming. After a few deep breathes, his heart rate goes down, and the electricity fades. Lightning is how he killed his brother. It was also how he attacked him for the first time, and Itachi broke his wrist before trapping him in Tsukuyomi, again.

Oh, yeah. He’s really great at the whole protecting his little brother thing.

Sakura moves closer, not touching him, but near enough that Sasuke can’t help but be aware that she’s there. “We can leave if you want,” she says, and he’s suddenly so relieved he’s not alone. 

Shaking his head, he says, “No, I can do this,” and flips open the file. With his Sharingan, he makes out everything perfectly, and instantly feels nauseous at the sight. “I changed my mind.”

“What? What’s going on?”

His hands aren’t steady, and he has trouble getting the file back where it belongs. It’s been years, he reminds himself as he puts the box backs, and even longer since the massacre itself. How shaken he is by this doesn’t make sense, because he’s _over_ it. If he managed to live in the site of the murders every day for five years, then he should be able to read a damn report. Realistically, it’s his home that should feel like a graveyard, not Konoha’s archive room.

So why does he feel like he’s standing in a crowd of ghosts?

When Sakura wraps a hand around his elbow, he startles. “We should go,” she says, followed by, “What did you read?”

Even though he’s the one with perfect vision at the moment, she leads him out and away. “The date,” he answers, suddenly needing to just say it out loud and make sure he isn’t as crazy as he feels. “It was might’ve been an archival mistake, I don’t know, but it was dated for three days before the massacre.”

What really got to him was how upfront the error was. It was right there, where anyone could see it. All people had to do was open up a file, read the date, and see there was something off. More important, that was all _he_ had to do. But instead he was a scared, angry kid, who was stupid and prideful, and let himself get taken advantage of.

Once they’re outside, breathing fresh air, and far enough away from the archive room to be safe, he starts to feel better. That’s when they stop, he deactivates the Sharingan, and Sakura says, “You don’t think it’s an archival mistake,” without turning around to look at him.

He turns his eyes to the ground, and scuffs his foot against the dirt, not sure how to answer, but knowing he owes her one after how badly he must’ve freaked her out in there. “I didn’t talk the entire first week I was in the hospital,” he says finally. “They only released me when I started to eat, and I still wasn’t sleeping. Inevitably, orders for something like that aren’t going to make it onto paper, but hints here are there are. So, no, I don’t think there’s a mistake, because no one expected the abandoned seven-year-old would ever end up sane enough to be able to step foot in that place, let alone open read the report. It’s the perfect place to hide evidence.”

Someone obsessed with revenge would never think about it. From the way Madara described everything, Sasuke thinks he probably wasn’t supposed to survive once Itachi was out of the village, but his brother was dangerous, so people took him seriously. Putting it down on paper makes sense, in a fucked up, backwards sort of way; when Itachi dies, it’ll be easy to claim he was infiltrating the Akatsuki on behalf of Konoha, especially since it’s a half-truth. Everyone loves a martyr, and no one makes a better one than a past villain with a tragic back story. What a wonderfully convincing way to get young, talent shinobi interested in the ANBU, in Root. In Danzo’s operation.

“Do you want to tell Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura says, and Sasuke shrugs, because there still is an advantage to having an adult on their side. “Well, what do you want to do?”

It’s late, and she should probably head home. “Want to go for a walk?” he asks anyway, and she smiles in agreement before letting him fall into step, and lead the way.

 

 

Even though Sasuke’s memory is good, it’s not perfect, and he got his days mixed up. He thought he had more time, that he’d be able to meet Itachi and Kisame during the fight with the Konoha jounin. Instead, Sasuke finds out from a knock on the apartment door right after he finishes his morning shower that Kakashi’s in the hospital.

Sasuke rushes there as fast as he can, and finds Kakashi bedridden, in the exact state as before. Ever since he entered, the other occupants of the room have been silent, and Kurenai’s the one to break it. “He’s going to be fine,” she says. “Just give him a few days, and your sensei will be back to normal.”

If Sasuke didn’t know what had happened, he’d be irritated at being talked down to, but he gets it, because he’s the kid brother of the one who caused this. But he still shakes his head, and says, “This is the effects of Tsukuyomi, he’s not going to be _fine_ ,” and before anyone can ask how he knows from just looking, someone new runs in.

“Is it true?” the man asks, out of breath. “Is Uchiha Itachi going after Naruto?”

Like that, Sasuke’s gone, and in his last seconds in the hospital, the other jounin explode into angry yelling. This is his chance, though, to save Naruto, and face Itachi, and Sasuke’s not going to screw it up.

 

 

Waking up to find a guy who is so clearly Uchiha Itachi that it’s ridiculous standing outside his hotel room is really not the way Naruto expected to start his morning. “Uzumaki Naruto,” a blue, shark-looking man says, “we’re going to have to ask you to come with us.”

It’s way too early in the morning to deal with this. As Naruto goes to say excuse them, but no, Sasuke suddenly shows up in front of him in the telltale smoke of a Shunshin, and it’s like the situation with Gaara and his siblings all over again. “Get away from my friend, Itachi,” he says, an edge to his voice that Naruto’s never heard before. “I’m not asking twice.”

“Who’s this?” shark-guy says, and this is just getting more confusing by the second.

“I’m his younger brother,” Sasuke answers without looking at him. “You and I need to talk. Back off.”

Itachi’s face is totally unreadable, and shark-guy’s forehead scrunches up. “I thought you killed everyone, you liar.”

Completely ignoring his partner-friend-person, Itachi focuses entirely on Sasuke, and says, “You’re in the way, little—”

“I know. If you want him, you have to kill me first. Naruto, run.”

“What? No—”

“Fine,” he says, and his hand finds Naruto’s chest. “Then, he’s downstairs.”

Next thing Naruto knows, he’s flying backwards, Sasuke having forced chakra through his palm the way Sakura does, and he’s so dead later. The open window means Naruto goes straight through, and, of course, shark-guy’s there to meet him by the time he lands outside. Itachi and Sasuke are nowhere to be seen.

When all this is over, he’s telling Kakashi, Naruto decides, and readies himself for a fight.

 

 

If Jiraiya weren’t going to show up in a few minutes, Sasuke never would have throw Naruto out, but he needs to speak with Itachi alone. As expected, his brother immediately tries to create another Tsukuyomi, but Sasuke knows how to resist it now—it’s hard, and it hurts, but he manages. “Just stop, Itachi,” he says the moment it breaks with such a strong force his brother actually takes a step back. “We’re talking, not fighting.”

Itachi looks down at him, face half hidden by the collar of his Akatsuki cloak and eyes narrowed, and he says, “This isn’t the reception I expected, Sasuke.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Sasuke says, “but I’m not killing you for the sake of some screwed up sense of your own absolution.”

It’s not until he actually says it that he realizes how angry he is. He got over being forced back in time ages ago, but those fifteen years of his old life left scars, and a large part of it was his brother’s fault. There was a boy who could’ve been his best friend, a girl he loved, an actual adult in his life who never would’ve hurt him, and Sasuke went and gave that all up because, in the bare truth of it, Itachi _told_ him to. So it might have been years, but the anger is just a little bit justified.

Though Itachi’s probably confused, he doesn’t show it. “Absolution implies,” he starts, but Sasuke shakes his head, not willing to hear any measuring stick bullshit again.

“Your Tsukuyomi didn’t work as well as you hoped back then, either,” he says. “There was a second person there that night, and you tried to convince me there wasn’t. Not really the act of someone guilty. Who ordered you to kill our family?”

“Where did—”

“Because the way I see it, the Sandaime wasn’t the sort of person to do something like that,” he continues. “The Council? Oh, they’re just a bunch of idiots. It would need to be someone in ANBU, and the name that keeps coming up is Shimura Danzo, so—”

“You’re—”

“I’ll do whatever it takes the proof necessary to bring you back to Konoha.”

He hadn’t meant for it to come out all in a rush like this, but it’s easier to say it now than give Itachi a chance to flee. For whatever reason, though, Sasuke wasn’t expecting his brother to attack, and he’s too slow to dodge when Itachi’s hand wraps around his throat, pushing him against the wall. “I don’t know what story your mind concocted as a defense mechanism,” he says, “but—”

Even with his chakra still technically low from the burn out last week, it isn’t hard for Sasuke to create a full body Chidori. It doesn’t do much damage, but it’s enough to get Itachi off of him, and Sasuke lands on his feet, quickly moving out of the way before his brother can get to him again. “The only thing my mind did was unravel what you tried to put in it,” he says. “I’m not an idiot, and if you really killed our family as a measure of power, you would’ve killed the seven-year-old who just developed the Sharingan, too—don’t bother trying to use your eyes again, you don’t need to go blind because your little brother refuses to hate you.”

This, obviously, isn’t the way Itachi thought their next meeting was going to go at all, and Sasuke wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t gotten Kisame out of here, because his brother would’ve been forced to attack. As it is, the fact that he _isn’t_ is proof enough that what Sasuke’s saying is right, and he was an idiot for not seeing it earlier.

“You certainly sound angry for someone who—” Itachi says, and doesn’t seem surprised at all when Sasuke interrupts him.

“Of course I’m angry,” he says, and this is the most he’s said at once in years. “You _left_ me, Itachi, alone, after promising you never would. And you’re making it pretty clear you’re about to again. But I’m still not going to kill you; I’m going to save you. I’ve been looking into old reports—”

Again, Sasuke ends up against the wall, pinned by Itachi’s arm across his shoulders, and it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other, but Sasuke still knows his brother well enough to see he’s scared. “You’re a child, Sasuke,” he says, “misunderstanding a situation to fit your own wants. Stop looking, or you’re going to make an enemy a lot more dangerous than me.”

“Like the Akatsuki?” Sasuke says. “Or do you mean Shimura Danzo and Root?”

Itachi presses harder against his shoulders. “You—”

Suddenly, the hallway’s covered in the insides of a frog’s stomach, with Jiraiya standing near what was once the staircase, an exhausted, battered Naruto tucked under one arm, and Kisame half absorbed into the ground. “Let go of your brother, Uchiha Itachi,” Jiraiya says, and Sasuke wants to groan, because he’s relatively sure the threat to his safety was about to get Itachi to tell him something. “You’re inside my stomach now. There’s nowhere to run.”

Without saying anything, Itachi backs off. “Next time, little brother,” he says, raising his hand, and despite everything that’s going on, Sasuke feels like a child again.

Then the two fingers connect with his forehead, bringing a genjutsu with them, and the last thing Sasuke’s aware of is the sound of his own scream.

 

 

When Sasuke wakes up, he doesn’t talk, and his hands shake. Bringing him along wasn’t supposed to happen, but Naruto wasn’t about to send his best friend back to Konoha all on his own when he’s barely reacting to anything, and Orochimaru’s after him. Instead they send a frog back to Sakura to let her know before continuing on their way.

As much as Naruto wanted to kill Sasuke for being an idiot earlier, his friend’s definitely gotten worse than he deserved already. Sure, he would’ve preferred not getting thrown out the window, but Jiraiya showed up almost immediately. And it was great and all, watching him kick the ass of that shark guy, but right now Naruto could really do without Jiraiya turning to Sasuke and asking, “What the hell were thinking, splitting the two of you up like that? Did you really think you could take the two of them on _alone?_ ”

Sasuke blinks, and shakes himself, still so not okay. “I knew you were in the room below the window. You weren’t exactly hiding your chakra signature,” he answers. “In Kakashi-sensei’s hospital room, a jounin came in asking if the Akatsuki were really after Naruto, so of course they’d split up. Even distracted, all it would take is one crash to attract your attention, and ‘after’ implied ‘capture’ not ‘kill,’ so they weren’t going to go after Naruto with their hardest attacks anyway. Itachi’s more dangerous, and would stay with me anyway. Seemed like the best option.”

“They’re both S-class missing-nin,” Jiraiya says, and Naruto steps closer to his friend, ready to defend him if necessary. “Neither of you have the skill to take on a member of the Akatsuki. You put your friend in danger. You put _yourself_ in danger. And unlike Naruto, they would’ve killed you.”

With a frown, Sasuke says, “Itachi wouldn’t hurt me,” and while Naruto wants to trust his friend’s judgment, what his brother did was the definition of hurting him.

Jiraiya sighs. “He forced you into a seizure, Sasuke.”

“It’s not any worse than the Tsukuyomi,” Sasuke says, and Jiraiya makes a face like someone tried to feed him sand. “Do I look permanently injured? It was just to knock me out.”

“Why are you so convinced he wouldn’t? Or wouldn’t kill you?”

When his friend doesn’t say anything right away, Naruto goes to answer for him, because he already knows about the whole Itachi getting orders then, but then Sasuke says, “Because until I met Sakura, he was the only one who acted like I was an actual person,” which is new. “And he didn’t snap from the pressures of being an ANBU or whatever people are trying to think, because he would’ve killed me, too, but he didn’t, even after I activated my Sharingan. That’s why.”

He doesn’t look as out of it anymore, and his shoulders are shaking, not just his hands. As horrifying as the idea of Uchiha Sasuke crying is, Naruto realizes his friend’s really on the verge of tears. “Hey, I’m fine,” he says, looking between the two of them. “Sasuke’s really good at thinking ahead, he wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t sure if you were down there, right?” When he nods, Naruto continues, “And he’s right, Itachi _didn’t_ hurt him, uh, permanently, so can we move on now? Am I allowed to know why they want me yet?”

In the same moment that Jiraiya says, “We’ll talk about it later,” Sasuke answers, “What else? For the Kyuubi,” and this goes to show why friends are the best people ever.

“Don’t give me that look,” Naruto says, catching sight of Jiraiya’s open mouth. “He and Sakura are my best friends, of course I was going to tell them.”

“Of all the irresponsible—that’s sensitive information, kid!”

As Naruto shrugs, Sasuke says, “We aren’t going to tell anyone. And no, I didn’t find out from Itachi. It’s common sense.”

Jiraiya rubs his forehead. “We need to hurry up and find Tsunade,” he says. “Naruto, continue practicing. Sasuke, I hear you’re a good teacher. Try to help him.”

Though it’s obvious this is the end of the conversation for the day, Naruto has a feeling the subject isn’t closed permanently. After he and Sasuke agree, Jiraiya returns to his role of navigator instead of lecturer, and they continue in silence.

 

 

Finding Tsunade, future Godaime, turns out to be the biggest letdown ever, and now Naruto’s trapped in a stupid bet he’s definitely going to win, but still finds ridiculous. “What makes her think she can act like that?” he says, looking to Sasuke, who’s lying down on the opposite bed. After hours of practicing, Naruto couldn’t take it anymore, and decided he needed to sleep on something that wasn’t the ground. “Just because she’s older doesn’t mean she’s always right or whatever.”

“She’s one of the three legendary sannin, remember?” Sasuke says, pulling the blankets to shoulders. “Even when she’s dead wrong, with power like that, it’s not hard to act like she’s always right.”

That doesn’t sound right, though. Naruto doesn’t want a Hokage who doesn’t accept mistakes. “Any advice on the Rasengan, Sasuke?” he asks, because he thinks proving her wrong will feel really good in a way most things don’t.

As his friend rolls over, facing away from him, he answers, “Practice like Konoha’s existence depends on it,” and the sad thing is, Naruto doesn’t think he’s being melodramatic.

 

 

On the last day of the bet, Naruto succeeds, and Sasuke probably doesn’t appreciate getting tackled to the ground, but lets him, so that’s cool.

His hand is cramping, but with his super special, Kyuubi-caused healing powers, Naruto knows he’ll be okay soon. “So she kind of sucks like a lot,” he says, out of breath, as Sasuke kicks him off, “but I guess we’ve got a new Hokage.”

Ever since the run in with his brother and getting told off, Sasuke hasn’t smiled once, which is saying something considering he rarely smiles at all, so when he finally does, it takes a lot of effort not to cheer in an extra sense of accomplishment. Winning a bet, _and_ making his friend better? Today’s great already, and it’s not even noon. “See?” Sasuke says, one half of his mouth twisted up in his version of a grin. “I knew you could take care of yourself.”

“You know how proud Kakashi-sensei’s going to be?” Naruto says, because chakra control’s harder than anyone ever admits. “Told you I was awesome.”

“Yeah, because I taught you how to do something better than use orange rubber bands when you were eight,” Sasuke says.

With a short laugh, Naruto says, “Yeah. What would I do without you?” Sasuke’s full of himself to the point of fault, but now’s not the time to call him out on it. Reminding himself that this bet was important to more than just his own pride really helped. “Next time those jerks come after me, we’re fighting together, got that? Maybe we can beat shark guy.”

Sasuke actually nods, which is more surprising than it should be. “If it’s the four of us, we can probably do something,” he says, sitting up, “but it’s just you and me, the moment I start going down, get yourself out of there, okay?”

“What? No,” Naruto says. “We never abandon our teammate, remember?”

“Whatever they want you for is going to be a lot worse than us dying,” Sasuke says. “Come on, let’s go find the Godaime. I want to see her face when she realizes a gennin won her bet a day early.”

When he stands, holding out his hand to help Naruto up, he doesn’t accept it. “What do you, more important than you?” he asks, which is the closest he’s coming to saying that Sasuke and Sakura are the two most important things in his life. Without them, his whole childhood would’ve sucked. “Hey, you know something. What did Itachi tell you?”

Except it’s _not_ Itachi, Naruto realizes. It’s the reaction Sakura said Sasuke had to the whole dying thing in the Wave Country, the fact that he’s acted like pain’s no big deal since for as long as they’ve known each other, his pretty blunt explanation for why he thinks his brother’s innocent. Of course, Naruto knew his friend was messed up, but he hadn’t expected to be told to just leave him to die like that. Like he doesn’t even matter.

Shaking his head, he continues, “No. Jiraiya told me the Rasengan was the Yondaime’s signature move. He died saving the village. This is meant to save people, not be the thing I use so I can run away.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Maybe, but if you thought I was _that_ stupid, you wouldn’t even talk to me.”

That’s not even worthy of an answer, apparently, before Sasuke just sticks his arm out again. “Let’s go, _idiot_ ,” he says. “Sakura’s probably driving herself crazy wondering where we are.”

This time Naruto accepts his friend’s hand, letting himself get pulled up. Sasuke’s right, and Kakashi needs help, as does Konoha, and Sakura doesn’t deserve having to worry. By now, Naruto’s ready to go home, too.

 

 

Because the original meeting with Itachi drove Sasuke to a permanent disregard of common sense, he never actually heard the story of what happened in these three weeks. While in Oto, Orochimaru never felt the need to tell him he encountered Naruto only a few days earlier. So really, Sasuke feels like he deserves an award for keeping his panic to a minimum. Kabuto and Orochimaru in the same place? It’s like every nightmare he’s had for the past five years.

When Naruto positions himself in front of him as some ineffective guard, Sasuke doesn’t even think about complaining. “Get out of here,” his friend says, a complete reverse from a week before. “I’m not going to let them get you.”

Tsunade’s shaking, covered in blood, and just as useless as a still-drugged Jiraiya. Kabuto turns his attention away from them, and says, “I hear you’re the one who found me out, Sasuke.”

“The boy has full use of a Mangekyo Sharingan, Kabuto,” Orochimaru says, and while Sasuke has the advantage of knowing how both of them fight, the fact remains that he’s only so good, and fear isn’t going to do him any favors. “Be mindful, but don’t kill him.”

“Sasuke—”

“Naruto, just shut up and prepare yourself for a fight.”

Even if he did try to run, it wouldn’t be hard for either Orochimaru or Kabuto to catch up with him, and he’s not just going to abandon his friend anyway. “Move, Naruto,” Kabuto says, “and we’ll spare you.”

Sasuke grabs his friend’s arm before he can do anything. “Not yet. Don’t waste your energy.”

It’s a good call; Shizune attacks first, tells them to run, and Kabuto’s still injured enough from whatever Tsunade did to him that it forces him back to Orochimaru. Knowing them, it won’t be long before the full assault, but for now, they’re out of earshot. To Sasuke, that’s all that matters.

By now, both of them are use to ignoring orders to run just because adults are in trouble, and Naruto’s always so desperate to prove himself it’s not like he’ll protest to anything. “We’ll let the others handle Orochimaru,” Sasuke says, and pretends like just saying the name doesn’t make him feel like he needs to take an hour long shower. “You and I can handle Kabuto. I’ll attack first, cover me from behind with clones, finish with a Rasengan.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know, we improvise.”

It’s not the greatest plan he’s ever come up with, but it’s the most he can think of before Orochimaru calls his strongest summon, and creates a swap from nothing. Sasuke grabs his friend, pulling him out of the way right as the snakes crash down. If Naruto sticks to his side, it’ll be harder for them to kill him without risking damaging Sasuke too badly too. Orochimaru gives Kabuto a command unheard from here, and then he’s on the ground only a few feet away.

In retrospect, Sasuke really shouldn’t have insisted on coming.

The sky is completely clear, which means what he wants to do will take a lot of chakra, but he can manage it. Outside of Kirin, his strongest attacks all came with his chokuto, and not having it is a handicap, but a workable one. As Kabuto charges, presumably with a chakra scalpel at the ready to temporarily paralyze, not kill, Sasuke pulls out a kunai, using it as a conductor and hilt, and twists the Chidori into the shape of his blade, the same way he would if he was charging the metal. Behind him, Naruto creates half a dozen clones, and Sasuke waits until Kabuto is close enough, ducking under the attack, and moving into a seven-point strike he hasn’t done in a long time, but was once strong enough to take out someone in with a cursed seal in their Stage Two form.

On a normal person, that would’ve been enough to deliver a killing blow, but Kabuto’s instant healing through the blood stopping pills and built up medical jutsu are quick enough to rival Tsunade’s. Naruto’s Rasengan is an immediate follow up, but Kabuto’s too fast, and if weren’t Shizune catching him, Sasuke doesn’t know what would’ve happened. “I cracked his femur bone,” Kabuto says. “He won’t be moving any time— _what?_ ”

Naruto shouts for Sasuke to stop, that he’s hurting himself, but bleeding eyes are the least of his concern. “Didn’t you hear him?” Sasuke answers, and realizes that he really is an idiot, because to create a the size of the circle of Amaterasu necessary to create storm conditions, he accidently trapped Tsunade inside, too. “I have full control of the Mangekyo Sharingan. One misstep, and I burn you alive, understand?”

“What will that accomplished?” Kabuto asks. “The three of you are still in here with me.”

The air’s already getting smokier, acidic and hard to see through for anyone without the clear vision of a Sharingan. “Naruto, I’m going to give you an opening,” he says. “Take her, and go help Jiraiya.”

While he knew Kabuto wasn’t just going to let that happen, Sasuke was expecting an attack to either him, or Naruto. Instead it’s Tsunade Kabuto goes for, and even with a cracked bone, Naruto’s still closer; he gets in front of her before Sasuke can, taking a punch to the forehead, and a kunai to the hand. Sasuke freezes at the sight, and for a moment, can’t breathe, because he’d been stabbed through the same way too many times to count.

At the sight of the second, stronger Rasengan, he snaps out of the momentary lapse, but Naruto has it handled, bringing the swirling ball of chakra right against Kabuto’s abdomen. He’s thrown backwards, leaving an indent in the ground as he does, and is only stopped by a boulder conveniently in the way. Naruto just collapses.

Kabuto, of course, is fine, because he just doesn’t know how to die. By now, the conditions are right for Sasuke to make his move, and he doesn’t give Kabuto the opportunity to regain his bearings as he calls lightning down from a clear sky, connecting the bolt right with his chest. Again, no one should be able to survive that, but the asshole just doesn’t get the concept of fucking dying, and falls hard to the ground as the boulder breaks apart. The only person to ever live through Kirin is Itachi, but it weakened him enough for one final attack to kill him, which is probably an end result that applies to here, too.

Before Sasuke can try to make his move through, he stumbles, falling to his knee, barely catching himself with his hand. When he looks over, he sees Tsunade with her hands over Naruto’s chest, glowing blue and white, so at least his friend won’t die, either. Kabuto tries to stand, only to trip immediately, hitting the ground again, and Naruto says something, reaching up to touch Tsunade’s necklace.

As Sasuke pulls himself his feet, Orochimaru comes from above, over the flames, aimed straight for Naruto instead of him, sword from his mouth. Tsunade takes the hit, a stab right through the chest, and now his friend might be alive, but getting the future Godaime Hokage killed isn’t much better.

When Orochimaru pulls away, though, she’s still upright and breathing. “Don’t you know?” she says, glancing back at Naruto, loud enough for Sasuke to hear. “This kid is the future Hokage.”

On the other side of the circle of flames, Kabuto’s down. Even if this ends with all the Konoha-nin alive, Sasuke still needs to be conscious at the end of this to extinguished Amaterasu, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t try to take out Orochimaru while his back is turned. As he says, “The position of Hokage is worthless. The dreams of a child,” Sasuke inches closer, and tries to decide if he has enough control to kill both of them.

“You’re talking to the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, Orochimaru,” she says, black lines appearing from her forehead across her face. “Treat the position with some respect.”

The sword appears again, but Sasuke makes it this time, summoning Susanoo at the same moment, and knowing he can’t keep this up forever. “I’m going to get rid of the flames,” he says, looking to Tsunade so he doesn’t have to look at Orochimaru. “If I take care of Kabuto, can you and Jiraiya take care of him…Hokage-sama?”

“Focus on protecting yourselves,” Tsunade answers, standing. “It seems as though this will do that for you. Orochimaru, you aren’t touching either of these boys. _I’m_ your opponent now.”

Rather than extinguish the flames, Sasuke controls them, bringing the circle together in a column right over Kabuto. The scream’s loud, heard clearly even over the crashing sound of the sannin’s summons, and Sasuke feels more relieved than satisfied.

When Amaterasu fades, the body’s a charred mess, twitching but won’t be alive much longer, and Sasuke’s stuck as a bystander, watching the fight and unable to do anything but keep he and Naruto shielded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the genjutsu will be explained. I couldn't let Itachi get away without doing anything.


	7. chapter vi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It would've been easier to pretend to be average.

“This is the third time you’ve walked into me, Sasuke,” Naruto says, tired and sticky from heat despite the time of year, and totally not up to getting knocked into every five minutes. Considering that the trail they’re on isn’t even all that narrow, his friend doesn’t have much of an excuse. “What’s up with you?”

It comes out louder than he meant it to, and the other three turn around to look. “I’m fine,” Sasuke says, voice low. “Keep walking.”

There’s something weird going on with him, and when he glances over, Naruto realizes that his eyes aren’t really focusing on anything. Tsunade, apparently noticing the same thing, stops and heads over, grabbing Sasuke’s chin and forcing him to look up. “What’re the side effects of the Mangekyo Sharingan?” she says, and Naruto feels really stupid because oh yeah, his friend’s eyes were sort of bleeding pretty badly yesterday. “And remember, I’m the best medic you’ll ever meet, so it’s useless lying to me.”

As he pulls himself away from her, Sasuke answers, “Eventual blindness,” in an even lower tone than before.

“You’re joking,” Naruto says. “You know about that, and you’ve _still_ used it in ever fight you’ve had?”

“We went from Orochimaru, to a homicidal Jinchuruki, to the Akatsuki, back to Orochimaru,” Sasuke says. “They’re a little harder than your average shinobi. What else was I supposed to do?”

Tsunade gets her grip back, and puts a hand over his eyes. “Stay still. I’ll fix your eyes,” she says, and though he’s scowling, he doesn’t move. “I guess it’s as a good time as any to ask. What happened against the Suna Jinchuruki?”

Confused, Naruto answers, “Didn’t Jiraiya-sensei tell you?”

“I told them what I knew,” Jiraiya says, looking up from his conversation with Shizune. “Your team were the only Konoha-nin there, and there wasn’t a camera. Just answer the question.”

Though the doesn’t clear up the whole unasked _why_ , Naruto explains the invasion from their point of view, with the occasional interruption from Sasuke, who Tsunade really does want moving. “I’m beginning to see you’re something of the leader of your group,” she says. “Well, there’s no point in leading a squad if you’re going to kill yourself protecting them. It’s good to protect your team, but you also need to trust them, and not spread yourself too thin. Naruto, your trust in your teammates’ ability to keep secrets is admirable, but as you should know by now, your condition comes with certain risks, and you shouldn’t go spilling that information to the enemy. Sasuke, how do you feel?”

She lowers her hand, and Naruto wants to protest that Gaara wasn’t _really_ the enemy, but he knows someone normal like her won’t get it. “Oh. I guess my vision was worse than I thought,” Sasuke says. “Thank you.”

“You’re right about one thing,” Tsunade says, looking the two of them over in a way that makes Naruto feel very small, and very young. “Orochimaru and the Akatsuki aren’t opponents you can fight without pulling out your best attacks, and the two of you are both wanted, from what Jiraiya tells me. If you’re going to be kept out in the field, Sasuke, you need a way to avoid this.”

“Unless it’s being used to attack or record,” he says, “the Sharingan doesn’t take all that much chakra. I can use that to see until I make it back to Konoha.”

While that sounds like a fantastically bad idea, it’s better than Tsunade insisting they need a medic, and kicking Sakura off Team Seven. “Yeah, like he can see in the dark and stuff,” Naruto says. “Besides, me and Sakura’ll get him back if anything happens. We’ve done it before.”

“The Forest of Death wasn’t fun,” Sasuke says as Tsunade’s eyebrow twitches. “We’re good at looking out for each other.”

Yeah, except when you threw me out a window, Naruto thinks, but keeps his mouth shut. Really, he’s just bitter that it’s the whole Haku situation all over again—he went and passed out, and Sasuke protected him. Sure, Naruto’s done the same for him, but there’s a difference between passing out after two Rasengan, which both did like nothing, and singlehandedly running off one of the Konoha’s biggest enemies.

Turning back around, Tsunade says, “Keep up. I want to make it back to Konoha within the week.”

Sasuke reaches up, rubbing his eye, and even if they get back within the week, it’s still almost a month since they left. Hopefully Sakura won’t be _too_ angry, because Naruto’s really not up to a lecture.

 

 

Over the past few weeks, Sakura’s had a lot of time to build up her anger at getting left behind with just a message from a _frog_ to let her know her teammates weren’t dead. Somehow, slapping Sasuke only makes her angrier because he absolutely could’ve dodged it, which means he _let_ her.

What a jerk.

“Jiraiya _asked_ Naruto to leave, he didn’t have much of a choice,” she says, relieved they’re in the Uchiha compound rather than out in public because she’s yelling, and doesn’t want to draw attention to them, “but _you._ You at least could’ve gotten me! But no, I had to find out from a little talking animal while sitting in Kakashi-sensei’s hospital room. Naruto was in danger, so why the hell didn’t you come get me before running off like that? _And staying gone?_ ”

Scowling, Sasuke says, “I heard ‘Uchiha Itachi’ and ‘Naruto’ in the same sentence, what was I supposed to do? I didn’t even stop home to get weapons—and blame him for the staying away, he kidnapped me.”

“You had a seizure!” Naruto says, and Sakura really wasn’t aware that this could get any worse.  “I wasn’t going to let you go back home, alone, after—”

“A seizure?”

Naruto cringes. Sasuke’s scowl just deepens. “It wasn’t a seizure,” he says, crossing his arms. “Stop worrying Sakura.”

Rolling his eyes, Naruto says, “Last I checked, convulsing on the floor is like the definition of a seizure.”

“Itachi didn’t cause a seizure, okay?”

As she’s usually there with them on all their weird missions, Sakura’s not used to being the one left out. Naruto goes to say something, but she cuts in, “Your brother did something to you?”

With a noise of frustration more emotional than she’s used to him from, Sasuke says, “ _No_ , of course he didn’t—or, well, he _did_ , but I’m fine, see? It was just a lot for my mind to handle at once. I’ve had it done to me before—but if you want to talk major injuries, _Naruto_ intentionally got himself stabbed through the hand just to complete an attack that took so much chakra it knocked even him out.”

He’s glaring now, nails digging into his upper arm, and Naruto’s ears go red. This is why the three of them need to be together; these two have such a blatant disregard for their own safety that she has to be there as the voice of reason. “Well,” Naruto says, “at least I didn’t blind myself.”

“Tsunade healed me.”

“You still didn’t tell anyone about—”

When Sakura holds up her hand, he shuts up immediately, and is that just the slightest bit of fear she sees in his eyes? She wonders how mad she has to look to earn _that_ reaction. “You blinded yourself?” she says. “How did you manage that? And what fight was bad enough you let yourself get stabbed in the hand?”

It’s like they don’t even consider how she would feel if she found if one them were killed. Maybe that’s selfish, sure, but the fact remains that before Sasuke found her off the trail that day after school and handed her the cloth for her hair, she was a lonely, bullied kid who thought she’d fail the Academy one day and never make friends. Two months later, and her parents let her have boys over for sleepovers regularly. They’re everything to her, and she doesn’t know what she’d do without them.

Between the two of them, they get out the story, but it’s Naruto who gives the explanation of the Mangekyo Sharingan side effects while Sasuke doesn’t look at either of them. “Then why did you use Susanoo during the fight with Gaara?” she says, definitely angry now, because anger’s better than belated fear. “It would’ve been just as easy to dodge!”

“I’m sorry for reacting to seeing my friend in the direct line of danger,” he says, tone dry. “I promise I won’t do it again.”

She tries to shove him, but this time he doesn’t let her, just side stepping out of the way. “You lied,” she says, pivoting to face him. “You said you did it because you thought it was our best chance. ‘Should have given us a warning.’ I should’ve known it was complete bullshit. Why didn’t tell me? So you wouldn’t hurt my feelings?”

“Like you’re that delicate.”

“Then _what?_ ”

“I didn’t want to admit I don’t have complete control over it!”

The problem with Sasuke—and it really is a problem—is that all it takes is for him to say something unexpected, and he can shutdown a conversation more effectively than anyone she’s ever met. It even works again Kakashi-sensei when nothing works against him, and Sakura hates to admit it absolutely works against her and Naruto, too. How can it not? Sasuke plays everything that makes him remotely uncomfortable so secretively that the moment he says something he clearly didn’t intend to, it makes everyone stop, too afraid they’re about to break him.

This time, though, she’s not just going to drop it. “You think I haven’t noticed control isn’t your strong point?” she says, and that scowl’s back on his face. “Sasuke, you nearly ran a Chidori through a box of files. But I don’t treat you like you’re like you can’t take care of yourself, do I? Well, can Naruto and I, too, so the least you can do is return the favor.”

Even though that came out harsher than she meant it to, she doesn’t take it back. Sasuke just clenches his teeth, honestly looks like he’s about to attack, and says, “Naruto, anything you want to add?”

In her own outburst, Sakura hadn’t noticed that Naruto somehow ended next to her. “Uh,” he says, shoulders tense. “Look, you know I trust you, and if you say you’re brother had orders, I believe you, but he attacked you. And don’t say whatever he showed you was nothing—Jiraiya-sensei was too distracted by his frog’s stomach getting ripped open, but when I tried to touched you, you sort of went, uh, ‘no, not again.’ I didn’t want to say anything, but there was sort of a whole lesson at the Academy on fear-based attacks.”

She shouldn’t have pushed, she realizes, because the red of the Sharingan bleeds into Sasuke’s eyes obviously without him meaning to, too. She wasn’t kidding when she said she noticed he wasn’t the best at control. “I don’t know exactly what happened,” she says, backtracking the conversation, no matter how bad that is, before he accidentally does anything worse than just activating it, “but Sasuke’s right. His brother _is_ innocent. We found evidence, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke says, and though he doesn’t seem any calmer, his agitation’s stopped growing. “I would’ve said something if Jiraiya hadn’t gone off on me. If he hadn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this far into it, would you? Because all it was is that I freaked him out enough that he showed me the truth—which fine, included watching that night again. You would’ve had the same reaction. Watching twenty-seven people die isn’t easy.”

Though still tense, he doesn’t ask them to leave, which Sakura’s taking as a good sign, because he never has before. She doesn’t want to start that as a thing that happens now. “So what is it?” she says. “Were you right about the date?”

He nods, but it’s more a jerk of the head than an actual movement. “It wasn’t a lot. I couldn’t understand all of it. The second I said I was looking into it, he said something about attracting enemies worse than him, so I think the genjutsu was meant to deter me. But I finally got a person. Not a name, but that’s more than before.”

After giving her a look that she’s pretty sure means _do you think he’s telling the truth?_ , Naruto says, “Who is it?”

“You both have to promise not to do anything stupid.” Neither of them would never do anything without him there, so this seems a little pointless, but they both agree anyway. He gives them a more calculating look she’s ever seen directed at her before saying, “The head of the ANBU.”

Like that, she knows he isn’t lying, and they just stepped themselves into something a lot bigger than Sakura ever imagined.

 

 

As his team is the only one in full to make it into the third test, Kakashi knew Tsunade was going to call him to the office eventually. He just wasn’t expecting it to happen before he even had a chance to talk to them.

After a comment on his unbroken habit of tardiness, she motions for him to sit. “Naruto’s not advancing,” she says. “Jiraiya wants to take him on as an apprentice, and from what I saw, he’ll agree. He’ll be staying a gennin for that. It’s your other students I want your opinion on.”

Though teams are usually enter the exam all at once, it’s rare that jounin sensei think all three deserve chuunin status, from what Kakashi’s heard. This is the result of the necessity of needing three members in a team, but it’s as he told Iruka: all of them can do it. Hearing Naruto won’t be is disappointing. “All three have the complete ability to work as a team with little verbal communication,” Kakashi tells her.  “Both Sakura and Sasuke are spontaneous learners; Sakura taught herself how to strengthen her taijutsu in the middle of the fight, and Sasuke’s Sharingan allows him to record and adapt. Sakura has some of the best control I’ve ever seen. Sasuke has the leadership and strategizing skills of someone twice his age. He fought off Orochimaru without having any prior knowledge of his fighting style.”

Nodding, Tsunade says, “I saw the footage, and I saw him fight in person. He killed the traitor with minimal injury to himself. Their fights in the third test reflect what you say. But I have to ask. How’s the kid’s mental state?”

Flat out lying to the Hokage, even if she’s someone he’s known since childhood, isn’t a good idea, but Kakashi’s still worried about what happen to Sasuke if anyone who’ll do something about it finds out his opinion on Itachi. It’s dangerous in a way Kakashi knows the kid doesn’t understand. “About what you’d expect, considering what he’s been through,” he says, deciding it’s true enough. “But he’s been friends with Naruto and Sakura since he was seven. He has his moments, but he can keep his head during a mission, even when his friends are danger.”

“Oh, I noticed that,” Tsunade says. “All of them have areas they need to work on, that’s normal enough. Haruno Sakura has the mind for it, from what I’ve seen and heard about her, though not necessarily the physical skill yet. But for Sasuke—Kakashi, you’re going to be down Naruto more often than not, but Team Seven is staying as it is. I wouldn’t advance Sasuke if Konoha hadn’t lost so many good shinobi. You’re too close, so you might not notice, but that level of obsessive protectiveness is grounded in fear, and I can guarantee Orochimaru’s going to offer him the power to keep them safe. Uchiha Sasuke is a potential runaway risk skilled enough not to be taken lightly.”

Though Kakashi’s fully aware that his student isn’t exactly what anyone would consider stable, he also knows Sasuke would never just leave. He is far, far too dependent on his friends for that. “What did he do?” Kakashi asks, knowing something must’ve happened this past week to earn a reaction like this.

“His first reaction when Naruto was injured was to create Amaterasu,” Tsunade answers, “and then try to make a deal with Kabuto that he’d stay as long as we were allowed to leave. With so many chuunin and jounin dead or incapacitated, I’m not letting the Mangekyo Sharingan go to waste on C-and-D-rank missions. You’re going to keep an eye on him.”

It’s not a request. “All right,” he says. “Sasuke’s not going to do anything.”

Tsunade doesn’t look convinced. Kakashi hadn’t expected her to.

 

 

While Naruto’s off talking to Jiraiya about something, Sasuke joins Sakura at Ichiraku, Team Seven’s unofficial meeting place, to talk with Kakashi. “You’ve both made chuunin,” he says, handing over the certificates. “Congratulations.”

Considering that Jiraiya and Tsunade are friends, and Jiraiya yelled at him for disregarding teamwork for the sake of getting in an important conversation with his brother, Sasuke had assumed he wasn’t going to advance. But then Kakashi adds, “We’re staying a team,” and everything makes sense.

“I thought teams were traditionally split up,” Sakura says, looking from her certificate to Kakashi. “Not that I’m complaining. I didn’t really want to be throw on a different one.”

Sasuke didn’t either, but he thinks he has the right to feel at least a little insulted. “What did I do?” he asks. “Is this because of my eyesight?”

There’s a beat of silence. Then, “Eyesight?”

Oh, no. He doesn’t want to have this conversation again. Before he can go to say that it’s nothing, Sakura answers for him, “The Mangekyo Sharingan causes sight deterioration. Hokage-sama healed him, but it’s still an issue.”

“When she said minimal injury, I assumed a broken bone or something,” Kakashi says, more to himself than them. “Right. That’s probably a contributing factor. No, it’s the same reasoning behind why you're taking up room in my apartment. It’s too dangerous to leave you alone while Orochimaru wants you.”

After last week, Sasuke would’ve thought he proved he could handle at least fighting Orochimaru off. Still, like Sakura, he’s not complaining. Even if it means he’ll never lead a squad, which isn’t something he particularly wants to do anyway, he’s more than all right staying with his team—especially now that the fight from the other day seems to have blown over. Besides, he understands what caused it, at least for Sakura; no one likes to be treated like some sort of burden. It’s why he never said anything in the first place.

If they ever found out he blatantly lied about the genjutsu, though, Sasuke knows he won’t like the consequences.

With a shrug, he says, “Fine by me,” and Sakura taps her elbow into hers. “So, does this mean you’re paying for lunch, Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi shakes his head. “You’re chuunin,” he says, exasperated. “You can pay for your own food.”

“Were you told that you became chuunin? At _six._ ”

As he stands to leave, he knocks Sasuke on the back of the head. “Smartass,” Kakashi says, and Sakura laughs.

In the end, Sasuke pays for her meal, too lazy to correct the waiter who hands him a joint a bill, and heads back with her to her house, off to share the news.

 

 

When the Oto-nin show up three days early, Sasuke doesn’t notice them until it’s too late.

It’s evening, and he and Sakura are walking around killing time while waiting for Naruto, when Orochimaru’s men attack. Even though Sasuke remembers clear enough how all of them fight, five against two, one of which isn’t used to going against people with cursed seals, aren’t good odds. By now, Orochimaru must know the way Sasuke fights, too, but there aren’t many ways to guard against most of his techniques, and he doesn’t delay in bringing out his stronger ones.

Sakon and Ukon, as technically two people combined into one, are the hardest to fight, and despite Sakura’s discomfort with him killing anyone, Sasuke doesn’t wait before taking him out with Amaterasu. He hadn’t expected them to come after him while he was with someone else, and there was no trying to convince him to come to Otogakure, just a simple “we’re taking you with us” before attacking. Sakura’s holding up pretty well on her own, all things considered, but they won’t last long if these three release their Stage Two forms.

Inevitably, that happens, because Konoha-nin have the home advantage, and Tayuya isn’t good enough at taijutsu to keep up with Sakura. The moment Sasuke realizes what’s happening, he shapes his Chidori into a chokuto again, and strikes Jirobo in that second of vulnerability caused by the transformation. He turns, expecting to catch an attack from Kidomaru coming up from behind, but instead finds him wrapped around Sakura, trapping her with four arms, a kunai to her throat.

“I normally don’t like to be this close,” he says, “but I think the more direct approach might be necessary this time.”

Tayuya’s still off to the side, flute pressed to her lips in case Sasuke tries anything, and he should’ve known they wouldn’t underestimate him and Sakura for long. “Let her go,” he says, letting the Chidori fizzle out, and Sakura’s eyes widen. “I’ll go with you—”

“Sasuke, don’t!”

The kunai presses down harder, drawing blood. “No,” Kidomaru says, eyes flicking to Jiboro’s bloody corpse at Sasuke’s feet. “We’re taking her with us, too. Tayuya, knock him out. The girl will make good leverage.”

At the word “leverage,” he knows he needs to change tactics. Orochimaru’s threats were bad enough when she was safe in a different country—if he got his hands on both of them, if he had the opportunity to hurt her, Sasuke would—

“Sakura,” he says, calmer than he should be with Tayuya playing her first notes, “get Kakashi.”

Though Tayuya dodges the lightning needles aimed for her face, Kidomaru doesn’t have the luxury of knowing how well Sasuke can control the flames, even if the same can’t be said for some of the other techniques. The fire bursts from Kidomaru’s back, hot and painful and no threat to Sakura. As he screams, his grip loosens enough for her to knock her head back into his nose, and her elbow right above his hipbone, forcing him to go lax, and freeing herself.

She runs, because there’s no time to argue, and another round of needles stops from Tayuya from continuing her song. It’s an instinctive reaction, when attacked, to search out the opponent, and Sasuke traps her in his lesser form of Itachi’s Tsukuyomi before she realizes her mistake. Like Gaara’s shield, even a cursed seal can’t protect a person from a well-timed genjutsu.

Unfortunately, the cursed seal also causes a quick recovery time; Kidomaru’s released his web through his pores, creating a body armor the flames will eat through eventually, but for now allows for some measure of protection. He breaks Tayuya out of her genjutsu, spitting bits of web at Sasuke in the process to force him into dodging, moving him away from the two of them. Her flute’s genjutsu is useless against him, but her Doki aren’t. Until now, she’s avoided using them, presumably because of the whole catch-him-alive thing, but he doubts it’ll stay that way for long.

As it turns out, she doesn’t have to resort to them. Both the Amaterasu and the Tsukuyomi used a lot of chakra, and he doesn’t have the energy to create a fourth Chidori. When he goes to disarm her, he accidentally leaves his side open, and the web comes at him from all sides. He dodges; even when doing so he recognizes he’s being manipulated into a certain position, but close and personal isn’t Kidomaru’s style. Normally, attacking Sasuke head on is about as dumb as a person can get in a fight, but the moment he’s pinned to the ground, his whole world draws in together, small and fast and bright.

He struggles, panicked and unfocused, and loses any semblance of a plan other than _get away._ “Kidomaru,” Tayuya says, “just knock him—”

Then there’s the chirp of the Chidori, screaming, and a lot of blood.

“You’re okay, you’re safe,” Kakashi says, pushing Kidomaru off and kneeling down. Sasuke’s shaking too hard to answer. “None of them can hurt you.”

There’s blood soaking his shirt, splattered across his face and hair. I’m fine, he wants to say, and nothing comes out.

 

 

In the short time they’ve lived together, Kakashi’s dealt with a few of his student’s nightmares, and he’s used to Sasuke slipping out of the conversation every once in a while. Watching him actually break down, though, wasn’t something Kakashi ever thought he’d see.

Though she at least let him shower off the blood first, Tsunade had been brutal in her questions, and Sasuke worked himself into enough of a panic that he’s stuck in the hospital overnight, again. Answers going to have to be kept until whenever he wakes, since he barely managed to get three words out. Healing his eyes was a quick process, as they weren’t particularly damaged, and all his scrapes and bruises should’ve been quick to fix—which they were. Under normal circumstances, he’d be allowed home with the order to just get a good night’s sleep. Instead he’s stuck in a hospital bed, and Kakashi doesn’t think that’s such a bad thing.

Sasuke’s reaction had been…disturbing, to say the least, something Kakashi told Tsunade for once on the off chance the kid reacted badly in the hospital. The attack brought on a few secrets getting out he doesn’t think Sakura and Naruto willing would’ve given in any other situation. Namely, Sasuke’s not always in control, and Itachi tortured him. The others might not see that way because _Sasuke_ doesn’t, but he must understand on a certain level. Regardless of what he told Naruto, an information exchange, even if it forced him to relive the massacre, shouldn’t have caused convulsions. Whatever Itachi showed him, it was worse than the average genjutsu.

If Kakashi had to guess, it forced Sasuke to experience his worst memories again.

Now visiting hours are closed, Sakura and Naruto returned to the Haruno residence, and Kakashi decides to finally check Itachi’s records. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, there’s a vein of truth in what Sakura said about the incorrect date. Whether or not Itachi really did react specifically to finding out his brother was searching around where he shouldn’t is still up to debate, as it could just be Sasuke purposely misreading the situation, but it’s enough to make the idea believable. There’s also the matter that ‘the head of the ANBU’ is almost guaranteed to mean Danzo, and if there’s anyone in Konoha who can order a thirteen-year-old to murder his entire family, it’s him. Kakashi’s had enough unpleasant experiences with the man to know this for a fact.

Still, it’s a little too fairy tale for him. Kids who murder their families do it because they were forced into situations they couldn’t mentally handle, not because they’re secretly loyal to a village that essentially abandoned them. If he’s entirely honest with himself, this is the reason he watches Sasuke a little closer than his teammates. He has the same rapid learning curve his brother had, and earlier tonight highlighted that despite the skill level everyone marvels over, he’s still just a traumatized kid. And Itachi had always been a little weird in a way Sasuke isn’t, too limited in his emotional range, and much too ruthless, enough so that after the massacre people claimed they should’ve seen it coming. _Obviously_ the boy had something wrong with him already. That might’ve been more accurate than people realized; sometimes issues with the mind were a familial thing, and it’s not as though clans have reservations about marrying off cousins. Sasuke might’ve ended up with something even without the interference of an experience like that.

To help, and to get any real answers, Kakashi’s going to have to pull a few strings to get access to ANBU records, and for a good enough excuse. That doesn’t mean normal mission files won’t reveal something out of the ordinary, though, and with a student stalked by a famous missing-nin, no one will question why he’s there. He could very easily be looking for signs of Orochimaru in old reports that he missed earlier, and as brothers, Itachi’s file is going to be right next to Sasuke’s.

Like Kakashi’s at that age, Itachi’s many files are depressingly full. The box is stamped with the red symbol for missing-nin, a clear reminder that there’s nothing in here. Probably. But it doesn’t hurt to check. After all, he needs proof to show his student he’s wrong before the kid does something worse than breaking into an unguarded archive room. It’s not like he’s going to find—

Sometimes life is just unfair, Kakashi thinks, and sighs, the sound loud in the stillness of the room.

There are reports missing, he discovers when he opens the file for the last year of Itachi’s service. It’s not even well disguised. As Sasuke said, the answers are in the dates. They skip around. Later dates indicate prior dates that aren’t found. Right now, this is just about the last thing Kakashi needed to find.

Whatever happened must not have to do with all the files missing, though. Whoever removed them just grabbed everything in bunches. July 30th, the date of the massacre, is even mentioned as an upcoming mission, with no indication of what said mission actually was. Some of these may be indicating jobs done for the ANBU, but Kakashi knows most of Itachi’s from that time, and there shouldn’t be this many.

Outside of that, the report yields nothing. The removals were sloppily done, but still took out whatever information was necessary. There’s no sign Shimura Danzo was involved, but if records are here, too, then it’s more than just him; other village elders must’ve been, too. Or maybe it’s nothing. Maybe someone was just angry. That’s always a possibility.

Unfortunately, that’s starting to seem less likely by the minute. It doesn’t make Sasuke’s loyalty to his brother any less disturbing, but it makes it credible.

With another sigh, Kakashi puts the file back where it belongs. Jiraiya was right, and it’s about time he asks his student about that night directly. Eventually, the reaction he had earlier is going to have to come up in conversation, too. Now that that Tsunade knows, it’s out in the open. His mental state is going to be brought to question. Better Kakashi ask than the Hokage or a random medical-nin. Sasuke won’t be happy about it, and that’s not going to pleasant for either of them, but it needs to happen. Most shinobi do go through variation of the Are You Fit for Service talk eventually anyway. That said, it rarely happens when they’ve been active for less than six months.

Half an hour after entering, Kakashi leaves, and for the first time in a while, returns to an empty apartment.

 

 

It’s been years since Sasuke freaked out bad enough to forget where he is, but when he wakes to a hand in his, the heavy, steady breathing of someone asleep, and peach-colored walls, it takes him a moment to remember ending up in Konoha’s hospital last night.

Sakura’s the one holding his hand, Naruto passed out in the chair next to her, and when Sasuke stirs, she straightens up in her seat. “Hey,” she says quietly, not releasing him. “How’re you feeling?”

From the angle of the sunlight coming through the window, Sasuke’s guessing it’s noon. He’s been out for a while, which means whatever Tsunade gave him was strong. “Like someone drugged me,” he says. “How long have the two of you been here?”

“Since visiting hours opened.” Those begin at six in the morning. “Kakashi-sensei’s talking to the Godaime now. He just left.” She hesitates, then adds, “Do you remember what happened?”

He does, vaguely, though everything after Kakashi stabbing Kidomaru through the chest with a Raikiri, breaking his armor, is a blur. “Yeah,” he says anyway. “I didn’t burn you, did I?”

Shaking her head, she says, “No, I’m fine. I’m sorry for just leaving you like that, Sasuke. When you said run—I thought I’d find him faster.”

“I’m still here, right?” he says, and she looks away from him, but her hair isn’t long enough to shield her face anymore. “Where was he?”

“Talking to Naruto,” Sakura answers. “We showed up in time, but Naruto and I, we didn’t do anything. Kakashi-sensei just…well, the Oto-nin didn’t even have time to attack. Sometimes I forget how good he is.”

If they were there, then his whole team witnessed an almost complete loss of control. He appreciates that she isn’t trying to force him into talking about it immediately, but it’s going to happen, he knows that. Unlike Naruto, who’s thirteen and trusts his best friend, Kakashi’s not going to be deterred by a few carefully placed subject changes. And if Naruto or Jiraiya told him about Itachi’s genjutsu, then Sasuke is so screwed. This is something he’d been hoping to avoid.

He doesn’t realize he’s been silent for too long until Sakura squeezes his hand. “They’re all dead,” she says in the same _you’re safe_ voice Kakashi used last night. “Hokage-sama was annoyed because she couldn’t question any of them, but she questioned all of us, and she’s going to question you. She tried last night, apparently.”

Ever since he went through the massacre the first time around, Sasuke’s had anxiety attacks he kept well-hidden, which evolved into panic attacks during his time with Orochimaru. He’s not perfect now, but he’s gotten better over the past five years; still, it seems like he isn’t as “over it” as he thought. Well, this is going to be a problem. Or is already a problem. No, it’s the latter, he thinks. Did he say anything when Tsunade questioned him? He doesn’t think so. From what he can remember, he didn’t say anything at all. That probably accounts for waking up in the hospital.

But of all the people to see him react like that, did it _have_ to be Sakura and Naruto? Even just Kakashi alone wouldn’t be this bad, and he needs to think up a lie for that.

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” he says, frowning. “I don’t know anything more than you do.”

With a shrug, Sakura says, “I know, but I think it’s protocol or something. I mean, Naruto was questioned, and he was there for about a minute.”

“Can’t he just leave me alone?” Sasuke says, genuinely frustrated. “That’s six people he’s lost by going after me. You think he would’ve learned after the first one.”

Unfortunately, he knows better than anyone that Orochimaru doesn’t just give up, and doesn’t take no for an answer. Sasuke was hoping killing Kabuto would finally get him to back off on the grounds of losing his second favorite pet, but now that he thinks about it, there’s a chance the guy isn’t even dead. That would be just like him, wouldn’t it? Get electrocuted, burned alive, and hit with a swirling ball of chakra, and still survive. Medical ninjutsu at its best.

Sakura suddenly reaches over, brushing his hair off his face. “Never do that again,” she says. “Even if you are just doing it as a delay tactic, promise not to, I don’t know, _trade_ yourself for me, okay? You looked terrified, and I just—it took you long enough to wake up, Naruto.”

“What?” their friend says, blinking slowly. Then his eyes settle on Sasuke. “Finally! How do you feel? Are you okay? How long’ve you been up?”

Right as Sasuke goes to answer, and tell Naruto to calm down, the door slides open. Sakura lets go of him, pulls her hand from his face, and though it’s harder than it should be with whatever’s left in his system, Sasuke sits up. In the doorway are Tsunade, mouth set in a line, and Kakashi, obviously worried if the way his eyebrow’s draw down is any indication.

“It’s good to see you awake, Sasuke,” Tsunade says, more cheerful than she looks. “You two, come with me. Kakashi, he’s all yours.”

After saying goodbye, his friends leave, shooting apprehensive looks over their shoulders, and Sasuke’s never felt afraid of being left alone with Kakashi before. “You don’t need to be scared,” he says as he takes a seat, and Sasuke wonders how bad this’ll be to warrant an opening like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this chapter with an absolutely horrible headache, and don't like the way most of it turned out. I'm sorry that it's not up to par with my usual.
> 
> Also, I'll try to get my next one out quick, but it won't be as quick, because I have to write up a will-end-up-being-belated Christmas present for my friend (it'll be posted here, just a genderswap story, won't take too long). Still, I'm a fast writer. It won't take more than a few days.


	8. chapter vii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one ever really knows what's going on, and the more they talk, the worse it gets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not a whole lot happens in this chapter. It's the bridge between the first part of series, and the time skip chapter(s). 
> 
> Oh, and any disconnects between point of views, as I'm sure you've all noticed, is on purpose, because no one holds all the answers. No one's even really all that reliable of a narrator.

If it were up to Kakashi, they wouldn’t be having this discussion in the hospital. Unfortunately, it’s not up to him, and the discussion is happening wherever Tsunade says it is. So, here is his student, face white and curled up on the bed, and him, settling into an uncomfortable hospital chair like this isn’t about to be painful.

“Sakura said you took care of the last two alone,” Sasuke says after a moment. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Kakashi says. “I killed them. That means you’re the only person we can talk to.”

He hadn’t been smart about it. It would’ve been better all around if he managed to take one alive, but then Sasuke was screaming, and Kakashi didn’t know whose blood it was coating the wall of the alleyway. Like Sasuke, he’d just reacted.

Looking down, away, Sasuke says, “Everything I heard, Sakura heard too. If they said anything after, I blocked it out. What you walked into happened pretty quickly.”

Killing two people probably hadn’t been easy; as good as Sasuke is, he’s still not to the level to take on four opponents at once. Kakashi’s not all that surprised he was overwhelmed. “I thought so,” he says. “But you and Sakura didn’t handle the fight the same way. How did you know who to take out first?”

“The guy had two bodies in one. If you’d seen his chakra signature, you’d have done the same thing.” Sasuke pauses. “The second I just aimed and hoped lightning worked. Did they really see everything?”

By “they,” he can only mean Sakura and Naruto. And here Kakashi thought he’d have to be the one to bring it up. “You,” he starts, then stops. “Sasuke, even when you’re cornered, you fight with some form of rationality. Your ability to think quickly was the reason you were advanced to chuunin. So what happened back there?”

Sasuke’s shoulders shake, barely noticeable. “You’re not actually here to question me about the attack, are you?”

Well, there’s no getting around it now. There’s a lot they need to talk about, but the Hokage-ordered conversation needs to come first. “If you’re fit to continue service has been called to question,” Kakashi says, not directly looking at him, either. “Tsunade says she’s talked to you about your attitude towards protection before. This is the second time you’ve put yourself in a position where Orochimaru can get you because of it. It’s also the first time you’ve frozen up during a fight.”

“I wasn’t really going to go with them,” Sasuke says. “I just need him to let go of Sakura so I could kill him. I didn’t know they were going to threaten to use her as leverage.”

“I understand,” Kakashi says, “but the concern is that next time, you won’t say it as a delay. Orochimaru’s not going to stop trying to get you, not now that he’s failed three times. And your team’s the angle’s he going to use.”

“No, he won’t.” It comes out small, angry, and just a little bit scared. “I told you what he said in the forest. He’s not—I’m not letting that happen.”

While he knew this was going to be hard, Kakashi hadn’t expected it to be _this_ difficult. But it’s bad enough that he’s forcing Sasuke into an undeniably uncomfortable situation; what’s worse is the wide-eyed, guarded look his student has that brings about the terrible realization that he’s not just afraid of whatever’s going onside his head. This is a reaction to Kakashi, too, because in the end, Sasuke’s just a kid who needs to, on occasion, be treated like one.

If only Kakashi knew how to pull that off.

As Sasuke somehow manages to curl up even smaller, Kakashi says, “I believe you. I really do. But you need to think of another way than prevent it than intentionally endangering yourself. Sending Sakura to get me, that was a good idea, but you should have tried to lead them to me, not buy her time. You wouldn’t have had to take on two at once.”

His student doesn’t answer.

“Okay,” he continues, deciding to take a different approach. “If you don’t want to talk, you can at least tell me if I’m right or not. So this is how I see it: Naruto and Sakura are the closest thing you’ve had to family for years, and you know what it’s like to watch people you care about die. You’d do anything not to go through it again.”

For a moment, Sasuke does nothing. Then he says, “It’s not just that,” in a voice so quiet Kakashi can barely hear him. “Did you know the cleanup crew didn’t do their job all that well? I spent the first week in the hospital confused because I thought I was the one who did it, and after all that was straightened out, I had to go home and scrub my parents’ blood off the main room of my house. My first month back I slept in Shisui’s room because his house was the only one that hadn’t been touched. It’s not that I don’t trust them or something, they can both last longer than me in a fight, it’s just, I don’t know. I can’t go through that again.”

“Have you ever told anyone this?” Sasuke shakes his head. “There’s a lot you haven’t told anyone, isn’t there?”

Not directly asking isn’t good, but Kakashi has a feeling that there’s probably a limit to how many bad memories he can force Sasuke to live through in one sitting. “Yeah, you’re right,” he says, and turns away completely now. “I—Look, it’s exactly what you think, but just…not right now. Please?”

Kakashi takes a deep breath. Sasuke’s shaking, the movement obvious now. This is it for today. “Naruto should still be outside,” Kakashi says as he stands. “Want me to send him in?”

When Sasuke says, “Can I just go home?” his voice cracks.

“I’ll tell the receptionist you can leave,” Kakashi answers, “but let Naruto walk you back.”

Though hanging around Naruto and Sakura is probably the last thing the kid wants, Kakashi’s not up to letting Sasuke walk around alone at the moment. After he agrees, Kakashi leaves, and this better turn out okay.

 

 

As Sakura leaves, pausing just long enough to tell Kakashi the wonderful news that Tsunade agreed to take her on as an apprentice, he enters, and the tension in the office is already high. “I just had to demote her back to gennin for that,” Tsunade says as he takes a seat. “Am I going to lose Konoha’s last new chuunin?”

There’s still the Itachi situation to figure out, which Kakashi hadn’t asked about, and he’s not mentioning anything to anyone until he finds out more information. Even with this, though, he feels sure of his decision when he says, “Sasuke’s going to be fine. I’ll see if I can give him some formal training in the Mangekyo Sharingan so he stops accidentally activating it every time Sakura’s threatened, but he can acknowledge that there’s something wrong.”

For evaluations like this, that’s the important thing. “So the reason’s about what’s expected?”

“Mostly,” he answers, and explains what Sasuke said. “Shisui was his cousin. He committed suicide a few weeks before the massacre.” Being away from the compound is probably good for him. “I think the flashback is something that only happens during specific circumstances. If he were with a full team, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“You couldn’t get a name?”

“Not yet.”

There were a few things a bad reaction to getting pinned could indicate, but “exactly what you think” can only refer to the most common reason. Sasuke has an aversion to touch that anyone who really knows him will notice, but Kakashi hadn’t connected it to anything before; a lot of people do, himself included, and Sasuke never acted like he’d been raped as a kid. And he really must’ve been young, because Naruto and Sakura were too shocked for it to have happened during the time they all knew each other, and they all because friends not long after the massacre.

Just, _no._ Kakashi can’t think of a better response. This is his student, his _twelve-year-old_ student.

His twelve-year-old student whose medical file was unnervingly thin.

Suddenly, Tsunade says, “He’s going a month’s probation,” which snaps Kakashi out of his train of thought. “We’re going to gather intel on Orochimaru in the meantime, as much as we can. Train him. I’m going to begin Sakura’s apprenticeship. See if you can help Sasuke gain control of his Mangekyo Sharingan. Your eyes might not be able to defend against Uchiha Itachi’s, but with the Akatsuki coming after Naruto, someone needs to be able to take out the guy who can control the Kyuubi. Sasuke might be are only option.”

And to think, Kakashi believed he was done with heart attack worthy surprises today. “You wanted to know if he could continue as a shinobi so he can kill his brother?”

“I heard the story of their encounter with each other from Jiraiya and Naruto,” Tsunade answers, crossing her arms. “Separating them was a better idea than Jiraiya gives Sasuke credit for, even if it does follow the trend of obsessive overprotection, but Itachi never made it downstairs. That means Sasuke can either successfully delay him already, which is incredible, or he’s more than willing to put the Akatsuki’s mission on hold to deal with his brother instead. Considering what Itachi did to him, I’d normally assume Sasuke wanted revenge, but now I think he’s not the type.”

“Why didn’t you say this earlier?”

“If I told you,” she says, “would you have given me an honest response about whether or not he was able to handle the duties of a shinobi?”

As bad as it is, she’s right. Sasuke has the capability to become to chuunin, but he doesn’t have the capability to do this. “He’s not going to be able to,” Kakashi says. “He’s stable enough for normal missions, but going after his brother would destroy him.”

Leaning forward in her seat, Tsunade says, “You told me Itachi said it would take a Sharingan user related to him by blood to combat Tsukuyomi. If we had anyone else, I wouldn’t be asked for this, because I’ve seen Sasuke fight. I saw that panic attack last night in the hospital. That boy is not mentally or emotionally suitable for this, but he’s the only one with the necessary skills. And he’s good. In a year or so, he’ll be better.”

This wasn’t something Kakashi ever meant to get his student into, but he has. Now it’s up to him to figure out a way around it. “Give me the probation month, Tsunade,” he says, and thinks that it’s good that they’ve known each other so long, because not many people would get away with talking to her like this. “Then we’ll break it to him.”

“No, not we,” she says. “I’ll do it. You’re going to need to work together, so it’s not good if you’re associated with an order like this. But you can have a  month. Make it a good one, Kakashi. Sasuke’s not a bad kid, and I’d prefer it if he managed to survive this—without creating a second Uchiha Itachi in the process.”

In one month, Kakashi’s either going to have to find the evidence to convince Sasuke his brother really is at fault, or the evidence to prove to Tsunade that someone in Konoha forced Itachi’s hand. But Kakashi’s done seemingly impossible things before. He doesn’t see why that’s a record that needs to break now.

 

 

In any other situation, Sasuke wouldn’t have relied on emotion to get himself out of a bad situation, but it was the only option he had. If he hadn’t given up something, Kakashi never would have left him alone. Right now Sasuke’s just wishing he hadn’t been stupid enough to tell that much of the truth.

Even after the accidental time travel, Sasuke tried to avoid thinking about those first couple of weeks back from the hospital. But it was all true. The cleanup true had done their job _mostly_ up to standard, but the compound’s huge, and the blood slid into crevices in wood and stone that people who didn’t walk them every day easily missed. It took days to remove everything, and Sasuke’s cleaning products cut up hands. In reality, all it did was fuel how much he hated his brother. For the purpose of keeping his rank and position, the type of trauma it caused had to change.

There was no way to get around his embarrassingly obvious reaction during the fight against Orochimaru’s men, unfortunately, or at least not one Sasuke knew. He does know Kakashi’s going to spring the question of “who” on him, though, and he can’t exactly say, “Oh, sorry, did I forget to mention I was originally fifteen, spent almost three years with Orochimaru, and his definition of wanting my body involved more ways than one?” No, he needs to think of something else. That’s not something he can avoid forever, as much as he wants to.

Just like as much as he wants to, he knows he can’t avoid Naruto and Sakura, who showed up a few minutes ago, at the moment, either. Actually, if he’s completely honest with himself, Sasuke doesn’t really his friends to leave, despite how much less awkward that would be, because he’s still feeling a little off. They’re in Kakashi’s living room without Kakashi, none of them really sure what to say, but Sasuke doesn’t want to be alone. It’s a rare feeling, but one that happens sometimes, and after the past two days, he sort of appreciates being around company that doesn’t want to make him talk, or hurt him.

Though they aren’t trying to force him into conversation, they’re still filling the silence with idle chatter. Most importantly, idle chatter that has nothing to do with anything that happened. “I asked Tsunade-sama to take me on as her apprentice,” Sakura tells them. “Everyone needs a medic, right?”

The words _Sasuke needs a medic_ go unspoken.

“That’s great!” Naruto says, and when Sasuke just makes a noise of agreement, neither of them look at him like they expect anything more. “Jiraiya-sensei originally said he wanted to take me all over, but I said no way, so now I’m sometimes travelling with him, sometimes staying with Team Seven. Like I’d ever really leave Konoha.”

Sakura sips her water, and crosses her legs, settling more comfortably on the couch. “We can take the chuunin exam together again,” she says. “Just need to kidnap someone from a different team.”

Regardless of what news Kakashi comes back with, that’s going to be true. Either Sasuke’s going to stay a chuunin, since there’s not going to be an apprenticeship to forcibly demote him, or he’s losing his position as a shinobi entirely. If he does, then that’s just pathetic. The number of shinobi who get discharged for concerns about their mental state is slim.

He puts down the shumai he’s been picking at, suddenly even less hungry than before. “And we’ll totally pass,” Naruto says. “I mean, we were supposed to pass already. We kind of got to, right?”

When the door opens, Sasuke startles, having not been paying attention to his surroundings to notice Kakashi approaching. He enters, wet from a rainfall that must’ve started within the past ten minutes. “I see the two of you helped yourself,” he says, eyeing their lunch, and Sasuke can’t tell his mood from the tone of his voice. “Sorry to do this to you again, but I need to talk to Sasuke alone.”

Sakura’s hand finds his without permission, giving it a light squeeze. “I’ll see you later,” she says with a small smile, and stands, picking up his plate along with hers as she does.

“Yeah, uh, we’ll come by,” Naruto says, and Kakashi waits until they deposit their dishes on the counter and leave before taking Sakura’s seat on the couch.

There’s no uncomfortable silence like in the hospital. Very bluntly, Kakashi says, “You’re on probation. But that’s it.”

Normally, Sasuke would be insulted to hear this, but now, he’s just relieved. What he did back in the hospital might have felt like his only option, but that didn’t mean there was a guarantee it was going to work. “How long?” he asks.

“A month,” Kakashi answers. “It’s not a full probation either. You won’t be allowed on missions, but you can train. Since Tsunade can heal your eyes, you can work on your Sharingan. I’ll see what I can do to help.”

When Sakura learns medical jutsu, Sasuke will be able to use his eyes without reservation on missions, too. “Kakashi-sensei,” he says, something occurring to him for the first time since this mess started now that some of the stress from worrying has gone down, “is this because of Itachi?”

It makes sense. Even Kakashi gave the excuse that Itachi hadn’t been able to handle the pressure of the job, too young to cope with what he saw while working ANBU. Well, Sasuke might not be ANBU, but he’s dealing with attempted kidnapping by an incredibly dangerous missing-nin, which is probably considered a hard thing for someone his age to cope with, too.

“Not entirely,” Kakashi says. “It has more to do with the possibility of you getting yourself killed, or taken, but it’s been taken into account.”

 Just by the nature of the career choice, shinobi aren’t exactly the most sane group of people in the world, and Sasuke should’ve made the connection earlier. “Well, you don’t need to worry about that,” he says, and hates how he hasn’t sorted himself out yet. “Like I told you, Itachi didn’t snap. He was the normal one. I was the one no one knew what to do with.”

As he stands, Kakashi says, “Sasuke,” but he suddenly goes from not wanting to be alone, to not wanting to be around anyone at all.

“I’m tired,” he says, even though it’s not even nine. “I think I’m going to go lie down.”

This is just an excuse to get away, and Kakashi knows it, too. Even so, when Sasuke walks away, Kakashi lets him.

 

 

When Sakura came to Tsunade, half-begging to be trained as a medical-nin, she hadn’t expected the woman to actually agree. “During the Third Shinobi War,” Tsunade says on the first day, “it used to be that every team had a medical-nin assigned to them. I think it’s a formation that never should have stopped, but medical training is a lot harder than anything you’ve ever done before.”

Unlike what most people in the Academy thought, Sakura can take hard work. She learned nature transformation in a month, how to walk up surfaces using chakra on her first try, a new form of taijutsu in the middle of a fight. Between Naruto, with his endless chakra reserve, and Sasuke, who’s still considered the best of their age group, she’s not always noticed. For the most part, she’s fine with this, because even after the chuunin exams, it means people aren’t going to expect much from her, but the way Tsunade says it is like she expects Sakura to scare off just because it won’t be easy.

Still, it’s like Sasuke said. She’s not delicate.

“I don’t care,” she says. “Sasuke has a month before he can go out, right? Which means Team Seven has a month? I’ll have the basics down by then.”

For a second, it looks like Tsunade’s about to smile, but it’s off her face just as quickly. “Those are bold words, Sakura,” she says. “But can you deliver?”

The first time Sakura asked to be trained was the night Sasuke had to stay in the hospital, and Tsunade said she’d think about it. The next morning she agreed. Just because she said she would doesn’t mean it’s a certainty, the delay in a response proved that much. Right now, Sakura’s a means to an end, and she knows it; Sasuke too good for them to just get rid of, but his strongest move requires seriously injuring himself, and he doesn’t have much of a problem with doing worse if it he thinks he can keep her and Naruto safe. If it means she gets the training she wants, she doesn’t care what she’s being used for, but she knows that doesn’t mean it needs to _stay_ the reason. If she proves herself, she can be trained because of her own merit, too.

Until then, she’ll deal with the skepticism. “I can,” she says. “By the time Team Seven goes out again, I’ll have the basics. I promise, Tsunade-sama.”

Now Tsunade really does smile, though it’s not necessarily a happy one. “Then I guess we should begin,” she says, and despite her conviction, Sakura really hopes she’s not making some horrible mistake.

 

 

For some living legend, Jiraiya’s kind of a loser. And this coming from Naruto, who really is a loser, so that’s saying something.

It takes like three hours to drag the guy away from the hot springs, and by then, Naruto’s convinced Jiraiya’s just going it to be annoying. “Go pack your stuff,” he says once they’re finally at the training grounds, far, far away from any distractions. “I want to be gone by noon.”

As he said nothing about leaving immediately, Naruto doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say. Eventually he just settles for, “But you said I could stay.”

Jiraiya sighs. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “You would’ve told me to fuck off otherwise. Naruto, we’re going to work on you getting some control of the Kyuubi’s chakra—”

“Wait, when?”

“—which means you need to be as far away from Konoha as possible.”

Controlling the Kyuubi _would_ be useful, something Naruto realized after the fight with Gaara, but Sakura and Sasuke are here. He can’t just _leave._ “We’ll come back sometimes, right?” he says. “So I can go on missions?”

“The Akatsuki is after you,” Jiraiya says. “The Akatsuki is one of the most dangerous organizations in the world, filled entirely by S-class missing-nin. And you want to go on missions?”

Though it probably shouldn’t, the whole Akatsuki thing stopped bothering Naruto once they made it back. Since then, he’s had other things to worry about, he sort of doubts they’re going to be able to touch him here. “Sasuke’s allowed out,” he says, “and he’s got that snake guy after him.”

Rubbing his forehead, Jiraiya says, “Sasuke’s not an example you want to use, Naruto. Listen, your team has the potential to be great, but first you got to listen to the adults instead of rushing off on your own.”

Yeah, that would sound a lot better if half the adults Naruto knows didn’t act just as reckless as he and his friends do. Seriously, peeping through holes in a wooden fence to look at naked women? Gambling? Being late all the time? _Running around in green spandex?_ Naruto doesn’t have all that much faith in the generation above him.

“Can I say goodbye first?” he asks, and after Jiraiya gives the okay, adds, “And could you at least think about it?”

Though he’s totally lying, he says he will, and Naruto knows this is the best he’s going to get.

 

 

Sasuke’s lying on the ground of the training area they used before the chuunin exams, eyes bleeding and obviously dead tired, when Naruto finds him. “Wow,” he says. “You look like a frog stepped on you. I thought this was supposed to be so easy.”

Without even turning in his direction or sitting up, Sasuke throws a shuriken just left of Naruto’s head, too fast to dodge if he’d gotten his aim just a little off. Okay, so now’s not the time to tease him. “My eyes hurt,” he says, reaching up to press his hand over his left one. “What do you want, Naruto?”

“Shouldn’t you go see Tsunade?” Naruto says, taking a seat at his side, and Sasuke shrugs. “Eh, I guess it doesn’t really matter. She’s with Sakura right now.” When Naruto went to go tell her, he wasn’t allowed in to see her, and he doesn’t know if Jiraiya’s going to let him hang around long enough for her to get out. “Uh, I need you to tell her something, ‘cause I only have time to tell you, okay?”

Finally, Sasuke looks over, though his hand stays over his eye. And to think Naruto used to be jealous that his friend had a kekkei genkei. “What is it?” he says. “Is she going to hit me for this?”

Shrugging, Naruto answers, “I know she’ll want to kill me. Don’t think she’ll take it out on you. But, anyway. So, it turns out Jiraiya’s like a complete liar, and wants to take me outside Konoha for training. Like, for a while.”

“What, why?” Sasuke asks, and sits up so fast he cringes, and nearly hits into Naruto. “You said you wouldn’t.”

It comes out like he’s accusing _Naruto_ of lying, but it’s not like he knew this was going to happen. “That’s because that’s what Jiraiya told me,” he says, frowning. “He said he wants to teach me how to control the Kyuubi’s chakra so, you know, I don’t lose control or whatever, but I have to be out Konoha for that. I’m going to see if I can convince to let me back at least sometimes.”

“You’ve got a full month before Team Seven would even be allowed to go on missions because of me anyway,” Sasuke says, and takes his hand away from his eye. It’s covered in blood. “Four weeks should be long enough to convince him. Sakura’s going to murder you for missing her birthday.”

Oh, Naruto hadn’t even thought of that. Somehow, this just managed to get even worse. “I’ll find her something really awesome,” he says, but knows a present isn’t going to make up for him not being there. “Besides, I promised I’d take the next chuunin exam with her, right? It’s not like I’m going to be gone forever.”

He’ll just have to hurry up, and learn everything as fast as he can. It’s like the Rasengan thing all over again, and he can’t just procrastinate. “I’ve noticed Jiraiya is fully capable of getting distracted,” Sasuke say, “so I’m going to give you some advice. If the Akatsuki sends my brother after you, just run. Don’t try to fight, and definitely don’t rely on the Kyuubi. Just get out of there.”

“Yeah, I got that when you threw me out a window to get away from him.”

Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke says, “I’m not just telling you this because he’s my brother. This is for your own safety. I did some reading on the Sharingan, and it turns out it can control a Tailed-Beast. Your backup plan will become a weapon against you.”

Naruto stands, trying not to freak out, but this is a really big deal. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just found out,” Sasuke answers. “When was I supposed to tell you, in a Konoha hospital I was stuck in because people were worried I was crazy?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because _I_ have the Sharingan and we’re on the same team, idiot.” A shiver runs through his body when he tries to narrow his eyes, and his hand goes back to his face. “Just, be careful. You aren’t going to have me there to cancel out Itachi’s if something happens.”

If Sasuke’s so dangerous, why even put them on the same team to begin with? Then again, even Naruto thought his friend was mostly fine until they went against the Akatsuki the first time. But Jiraiya’s weird statement about Sasuke not being a great example makes sense now. He doesn’t have someone who can control him, or something inside of him or whatever. Oh, this is so creepy.

But, this does dash to pieces that whole idea that Sasuke has unconditional trust in his brother, because that was definitely him telling Naruto Itachi’s dangerous. “Okay, I’ll be careful,” he says. “You too, though. Right? And tell Sakura the same thing.”

There’s no point in telling Sasuke to watch out for her, because he does enough of that already. With a slight nod, he says, “Yeah, I will.”

Naruto might believe that more if his friend weren’t still pressing down on his eye with blood on his face. Jiraiya better let him come back at least sometimes, he thinks, because otherwise he’s going to be stuck wondering whether or not his friends are safe.

 

 

Like Naruto asked him to, Sasuke tells Sakura about their friend leaving, and then gives her time to rant over it. He’s not too happy either, but she’s better at articulating her anger, and it’s cathartic listening to her go on about how inconsiderate Naruto is to not even say goodbye. For Sasuke, it’s not necessarily that he’s mad, though. It’s more that he’s worried, and frustrated, because Jiraiya showed himself to be irresponsible no matter how powerful of a shinobi he is, and Sasuke doesn’t know if he trusts someone like that with his friend’s life. Itachi might be innocent, but he is still working for the Akatsuki. If he helped in retrieving the other Jinchuruki, he’ll have no problem taking Naruto.

Sakura finishes after her mom knocks on her door to ask if everything’s okay. “This just doesn’t feel right,” she says after shooing Mebuki off. “We’ve never been separated before, and we’ve been friends for over five years.”

So far, she doesn’t seem to have realized Naruto’s going to miss her birthday, and Sasuke doesn’t want to be around for that. Birthdays were a big deal for Naruto and Sakura when they were younger—he was an orphan, she had no friends. Sasuke never understood the point of celebrating the day you were born, but they liked the idea, and it just became a thing they did. When Naruto turned ten, Sakura still came over, and she had the flu. This will be the first one of them will miss since she turned eight.

“He’ll figure out some way to convince Jiraiya to let him come back,” Sasuke says. “It looks like you and I aren’t going anywhere, though.”

With a sigh, she slumps back against the wall, legs spread out over her bed, feet pressing into his side. “I’m technically still a gennin, again,” she says. “They aren’t going to send me out with just Kakashi-sensei.”

“I’m a chuunin, and they won’t send me out with just Kakashi-sensei, either,” Sasuke says. “I’m Konoha’s _only_ new chuunin, and I’m less useful than a recent graduate right now.”

As part of her apprenticeship, she’s going to be working at the hospital once she has the basics mastered. That means that at least she’s getting paid. Naruto isn’t, of course, but it’s not like Jiraiya’s going to expect him to pay for everywhere they’re staying. Meanwhile, Sasuke’s going to be spending the next month ruining his vision, and using money he won’t be replacing any time soon paying for all those medical bills.

Usually the point behind training is to create a safe environment to learn while limiting the amount damage done to a person’s body. Sasuke’s is entirely reliant on hurting himself.

Sakura nudges him with her foot. “Hey,” she says in the voice that means she’s been trying to get his attention. “This month doesn’t have to be completely pointless. How about you look into everything with your brother? I’ll help. And don’t say no because you’re worried about me getting in trouble, I can handle myself.”

While she has a point, he still needs to figure out a way inside ANBU records. Saying Itachi showed him the truth through genjutsu wouldn’t work with anyone outside of his friends. “I’m going to talk to Kakashi-sensei,” he says. “I think I hit the end on what we can do without someone who has connections. With the Akatsuki going after Naruto now, we’re probably on a time limit.”

“If he really does go after Naruto,” Sakura says, tapping her fingers against her opposite palm, “what would you do?”

This isn’t really something Sasuke wants to think about, but considering Naruto just left for an unknown amount of time, he supposes it isn’t an unwarranted question. “I’d stop him,” Sasuke answers, because he knows he doesn’t have it in him to kill Itachi for a second time. “I couldn’t—anyway, the most dangerous part of him is his Sharingan. All I would need to do is stop his use of that.”

From downstairs, Mebuki calls them for dinner, though after this, Sasuke’s not sure if he wants to eat. Sakura yells back that they’re coming in a minute. “Well, we have a month,” she says. “That’s a lot time to figure something out.”

A month, realistically, isn’t all that long of an amount of time, but it’s what Sasuke has, and that has to be enough for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be another short delay. I have family coming. This includes a child, and a pretentious aunt, like something straight out of a movie. I'll be surprised if I find time for tumblr on my phone.


	9. chapter viii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi's not up for handling his teenage roommate's mood swings, Sasuke really doesn't want to kill his brother, and Sakura doesn't get her parents' problem with sleepovers. It doesn't help that Naruto is gone, and they need to deal with this new guy instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the last chapter was so awful! Hopefully the length of this one makes up for it.

When Naruto turned thirteen, they were on their last day in the Wave Country, hanging out on the beach with Sasuke mostly ignoring them, but still there.The day Sakura turns thirteen, it pours, which ruins any chance of doing something fun. Despite the weather, she begs Tsunade until she gets a day off from work, and goes out for a walk in the rain with Sasuke. It’s better than sitting around for lunch, and Kakashi’s meeting them for dinner. Maybe it’s not the most ideal choice for a birthday, but it’s the best option she has.

Naruto’s absence isn’t easy to ignore, but neither she nor Sasuke mention it. “Of course the first day it rains in two weeks just _has_ to be today,” she says instead, and walks over a puddle instead of around it. Tsunade’s going to kill her if she gets herself sick. “Do you think Kakashi-sensei’s going to believe us about dinner?”

With a shrug, Sasuke says, “Probably not, but he might show up on time anyway.” Just to make sure their sensei’s not _too_ late, they lied to him about the time. It’s a moderately clever idea that won’t work all that often, so Sakura has to pick and choose when to use it. A birthday seems as good an excuse as any.

“Why do you think Tsunade-sama lets him get away with it?” Sakura says. “Team Gai was five minutes late to report the other day because they were visiting Lee, and she was _so_ mad. But then Kakashi-sensei’s late all the time, and she’s annoyed, but just doesn’t care.”

“It’s hard to tell,” Sasuke says, “but I think they already know each other, like him and Jiraiya.” He scowls at the name, and she gets it, because the guy just took their best friend away from them. “I guess favoritism has its advantages.”

Back in the Academy, Sasuke had all the potential to be the instructors’ favorite, and for a while, he was. But then he stopped paying attention, and started falling asleep in class, and he’s probably the only “Rookie of the Year” who everyone didn’t fawn over.

She wonders how long it’ll take before people say she has the favoritism advantage, too. Considering that Naruto’s training with Jiraiya, and Jiraiya’s Tsunade’s old teammate, he might hear it, too. Sasuke, the best of their age group, the one Konoha-nin to advance from their exams, might end up being the only member of Team Seven without it. There’s something about that that’s just backwards.

“Do you think it’s enough to get us outside Konoha once your probation’s up?” she says, looking over her shoulder and off in the direction of the wood walls just barely visible over the tree line to their right. “I mean, between favoritism and a chuunin, we might be able to get higher ranking missions, right?”

As her parents are civilians, she had a couple of trips outside when she was really little to visit her mother’s side of the family, but the mission with Tazuna was her first time to anywhere other than the Fire Country. It might’ve been a total disaster, and the village not too nice, but she’d love an excuse to see the ocean again, or anywhere different. In the Lightning Country, there’s supposedly a mountain where it never stops storming. The Wind Country is almost entirely desert, which isn’t something she’s ever seen before. Sometimes Tsunade talks about all the places she’s been, like that one hidden village where the shinobi get their strength from a fallen star.

Having a birthday like Naruto’s would be much better than a rainy day in Konoha, but at least she gets Sasuke. This isn’t the worst way it could’ve gone.

Again, he shrugs. “Depends,” he says. “Maybe they’ll use me as bait.”

Any hopefulness she had dies right there. She hadn’t thought of that. “No one’s going to risk losing you for bait.” More specifically, no one’s going to risk losing the Sharingan, but she’s not going to be the one to say it. And she doesn’t want to risk losing just him, whether he’s special for his eyes or not, so she doesn’t care. It’s bad enough watching Tsunade heal him all time, when he comes in white-faced with blood on his face not washed off as well as he probably meant to.

“They can if they want,” he says. “Hey, maybe together we can kill him, get written up in the bingo books as a couple of teenagers who took out the missing-nin everyone’s so terrified of.”

She hits the back of his head the way she does Naruto, and tries not to think about how messed it is that friendly violence just made her miss him even more. “Don’t joke about stuff like that,” she says, frowning. “At least wait until _I’m_ the one who can heal you, got it?”

“Yeah, I got it,” he says, and then, “Happy birthday, Sakura,” like they weren’t just discussing assassination.

“Thanks,” she says, and turns around, leading them away from the walls, and back to the populated, safe center of town.

 

 

Sometimes Kakashi is genuinely surprising, even after spending as much time together as they do. Still, walking into the apartment to find him sitting on the floor with a bunch of files and scrolls spread out all around him really wasn’t what Sasuke was expecting.

Without looking up, Kakashi says, “Sit,” and points to the couch.

As Sasuke joins him, he catches the name of the box on the file, marked with a red X— _Uchiha Itachi._ These aren’t normal mission reports, though, he realizes. This are from ANBU records. “Why?” he says, but when he reaches over, Kakashi slaps his hand out of the way. “What, I can’t look?”

“No,” Kakashi says. “Wait until I tell you. I’m not supposed to have these.”

The red X must mean missing-nin; every report is has one on it. “Then how did you get them?”

“It was easy to get in once I said I wanted to look at old reports on encounters with Orochimaru,” Kakashi answers. “My connections expected me to show eventually. But I need to get these back before the office reopens at six, and they realize I took your brother’s files instead.”

Though Sasuke knows his friends told Kakashi everything, they haven’t really talked about it yet. It’s not for Sasuke’s lack of trying; every time he brings it up, Kakashi changes the subject to something important enough not to ignore.

Kakashi continues, “I’ve been doing some of my own research. I didn’t want to talk to you until I had something. There are notes on the end table. Those you can look at.”

On the table are a pen, and a small notepad, and inside Sasuke sees a series of dates. The date of the massacre’s there too, written last. “All of those were missing in the files,” Kakashi says, “but indicated elsewhere. I thought I might find them in the ANBU records, but there are only a handful.”

When Sasuke looks back over, Kakashi’s eye’s finally focused on him. “Why the massacre?” he says. “Another report mentioned the date?”

“A lot of reports mention it,” Kakashi answers. “Sasuke, I know what to look for to a point. What happened that night?”

Outside of the medical-nin in the hospital, Sasuke never actually told anyone, and he definitely hasn’t had the opportunity to tell anyone the additional information he knows now. Five years is a long time to wait for this, but it’s worth it. “Well, everything’s a little out of order,” he says, glancing at the dates again. What an easy thing to fix. “Itachi’s Tsukuyomi made it hard for me know what was real and what wasn’t for a really long time. I was only unconscious for a few minutes—after I woke up, my Sharingan activated for the first time, so it didn’t work as well as my brother was hoping. He tried to make it seem like he was the only one there, but before I went into my house, I saw someone on the electrical pole above the compound. I thought it was a Kage Bunshin for years, because the Sharingan reflected the moonlight, but I’m not sure anymore. I went back to the archives and looked over my family’s records again. Shisui’s eyes were missing.”

Though this isn’t true, it’ll inevitably be there if Kakashi checks. A coroner’s report would end up in the files, as a singular death prior to the massacre. “Could it have been someone in your family?” he asks, which is his way of asking if Itachi did it. Just because he has one of them doesn’t mean Kakashi needs to know that.

Shaking his head, Sasuke says, “Losing or giving up your Sharingan is a disgrace. I was just a kid, no one ever told me why Shisui did it. This could be why.”

If Kakashi’s offended on behalf of whoever gave theirs up to him, he doesn’t show it. “When did you figure this out?”

“A few days after my probation started.”

“You’re saying you _recently_ found out someone else was there,” he says, “and you haven’t felt the need to tell me?”

“I tried to tell you my brother’s innocent, and you immediately assumed he wasn’t,” Sasuke says, and doesn’t know how this suddenly became his fault. “How was I supposed to know you were looking into it? Once people just decide something, it’s hard to change their minds.”

He’s a good enough case study for that. Even now, Kakashi’s probably doing this because he feels bad. Though they’re training together, he hadn’t been too discreet about giving Sasuke more space, which shouldn’t bother him but does. “If you’re right,” Kakashi says, putting down the file in his hand, “and I’m not saying you are, then you and Sakura can’t try looking into this alone.”

Despite all these files and questions, Kakashi still doesn’t really believe him. “What is it?” he asks. “What made you decide to help?”

“You’re stuck in Konoha with nothing better to do,” Kakashi says. “It’s safer if I help you before you try something on your own, like breaking into the archive room. Now come here, and be careful. We might be able to find something we read through all of this by morning.”

As he turns his attention back to the report in hand, Sasuke picks up the file closest to him, careful not to let the contents spill, and prepares himself for what he knows is going to be a very long night.

 

 

It’s not that Kakashi thought he wasn’t going find anything, necessarily. It’s more that he just really didn’t want to. Ruining his student’s faith in his older brother is bad, but what’s worse is discovering a conspiracy in Konoha’s government.

He knows it’s not meant to be the moment Sasuke finds the report, though, because his whole body stiffens up. “The dates weren’t missions,” he says, holding out the file. “They were scheduled updates.”

Inside is a slip of a paper that must’ve ended up there by mistake, as it was shoved between two pages of a normal mission report, coded in Itachi’s handwriting. It’s the same code for all his reports, so though it’s been a few years, Kakashi can still read them easily, because the messages they had to exchange while out in the field were written the same way. For some reason, this just feels insulting. More and more he’s being forced to acknowledge that Sasuke might be right, and to have it be this blatant is like some sort of taunt— _you’re so screwed that it doesn’t matter what you do, because no one’s going to look once you’re gone._

Even though it’s just a page, obviously meant to be a bigger report, the purpose behind it is clear enough. Itachi was informing on his own family, the police force of Konoha that, sure, Kakashi might not have liked all that much because of their attitude towards Obito’s death (the “disgrace” aspect explains why Sasuke’s never asked him about where his Sharingan came from), but are generally still remembered in a good light. And of all the people to find this, did it have to be the youngest son of the lead family?

“I don’t get it,” Sasuke says. “What’s the point?”

There’s no reasoning here, just a few descriptions of whispered meetings, and Kakashi realizes what an idiot he is. Of course Sasuke’s not going to get it. He was born in a time of relative peace, he’s young, a recent enough chuunin that he hasn’t been on any information gathering missions.

But, Kakashi can’t really be sure, either. It’s not unlikely that he’s just jumping to conclusions—the missing dates, Sasuke’s complete conviction, _this_ , and the hours he’s spent awake pouring over mostly useless information could easily just be making him paranoid. “There’s not enough here,” he says, which is true, but that doesn’t stop the horrible feeling that yes, the Uchiha clan was planning some sort of rebellion. “We’re cutting it close. I need to return these.”

“Ka—”

“You’re going to be able to go outside the walls soon, Sasuke,” Kakashi says, gathering everything together and putting it back in the same careful organization it came in. “Looking for information will be easier then. But don’t do anything stupid, or without me. Your brother’s genjutsu is nothing compared to what I&T can do.”

A looks passes over Sasuke’s face that Kakashi now recognizes as fear. “Right,” he says, and it’s gone. “I won’t.” When Kakashi lifts an eyebrow, Sasuke adds, “I promise.”

Scaring him with the threat of I&T probably isn’t the best thing in the world, but it’s one of the few Kakashi thinks his student will listen to. Until the chuunin exams, it never even occurred to him that Sasuke would be more reckless than Naruto, but he is. From the looks of it, he has a good reason, too.

If Itachi really is innocent, they better find some sort of evidence soon. There’s only so much Sasuke can do without getting caught, and Kakashi cares a lot more about him than he does his brother.

 

 

True to his word, Sasuke doesn’t do anything, no matter how much he wants to. His good behavior gets him an end to his probation without any further consequences.

Originally, Sakura planned on taking him out to eat the first day, but instead they’re immediately given a mission. Or, not necessarily a mission, but a requested-by-name invitation to Sunagakure’s festival for the instatement a new Kazekage, complete with an apology from Temari for not writing to Sakura in advance. Apparently it’s tradition for a few shinobi from allied villages to be invited to a celebration for the selection of a new Kage, with Tsunade as an exception due to special circumstances, but they’re normal jounin. No one seemed particularly happy about sending a gennin apprentice and a chuunin taken off probation only a month earlier.

Again, the new Kazekage’s Gaara. “Naruto’s out for Konoha for a while,” Sakura says when they arrive, because of course he was invited, too. She looks nicer in her kimono than Sasuke’s entirely comfortable with, the fabric light green with small white flowers, and an obi with the same colors. “We don’t have a way to get in touch with him. He’d be here if he could.”

Though clearly disappointed, the Suna siblings don’t ask again. He wonders if they came last time, and if Sai was already involved, and if Sakura wore the same kimono. The yukata Sasuke’s stuck in is one of Kakashi’s, because he doesn’t own his own, and normally he doesn’t care, but he still manages to feel awkward with how badly it fits.

“Were either of you promoted?” Temari asks as Gaara turns his attention to a jounin team of Kumo-nin, and Kankuro glares at a couple of Suna elders whispering in the corner. Kakashi’s talking to someone from Kiri. “The next exam’s in Iwa. We’re not participating. Too much bad blood between us.”

“Sasuke was,” Sakura says, and smiles. “He was the only one, though. I was for like a day. Then Tsunade-sama said she’d mentor me.”

“Oh, that’s great. Why not Naruto?”

They all should’ve made chuunin, and everyone knows it. “He has an apprenticeship, too,” Sasuke says. “Someone had to be normal.”

With something close to a snicker, Sakura says, “Like you’d ever be considered _normal_.”

Temari lifts an eyebrow, looking between the them, and ever since their group’s been cut down to two, they’ve been getting this a lot. It’s annoying. “Well, I guess if you have an apprenticeship, you aren’t participating in this one, either,” she says. “The one after is in Suna.”

As Sakura goes to say something, she’s cut off by the sound of music starting from outside. A moment later, there’s a knock on the door, and someone calls, “Kazekage-sama, and guests, the festival is starting!”

Despite how long he’d lived away from Konoha, Sasuke’s never been to a festival anywhere else. He’s not necessarily excited, but he’s at least interested, and when Sakura grabs his sleeve to drag him along, he doesn’t try to pull away.

 

 

Two days after the return, Sasuke shows up with Sakura’s house with an expression on his face like when he woke up in the hospital after the Oto-nin’s attack. “Your dad let me in,” he says. “I know it’s late.”

He’s not looking at her. He’s not really looking at anything. “What happened?” she says, worried that he didn’t go straight to Kakashi.

“I wasn’t allowed to continue as a chuunin because Tsunade thinks I can actually do it,” he says. “It’s so I can kill Itachi.”

In all the time she’s been with Tsunade, Sakura’s never heard the woman mention this. There’s not much she can think of to say, so she settles with, “But you have proof, right? That he’s innocent?”

Shaking his head, he says, “Not enough. A few dates and a single page against the potential release of the Kyuubi? No one’s going to listen to that.”

Anything else she could say dies there. When she reaches over to take his hand, he lets her, and that worries her most of all.

 

 

Sasuke spends most of his time on missions, which is good, because it takes his mind off Itachi. Sakura spends half of that at the hospital, or with Tsunade. It really shouldn’t come as at surprise that Team Kakashi gets an additional member. Somehow, it does anyway.

To make it worse, it’s _Sai_ , who Sasuke’s said all of three words to, once tortured to the point of tears with genjutsu, and is definitely a threat from Danzo. How Danzo knows Sasuke is looking into things he shouldn’t be looking into when he didn’t say anything to Tsunade is still to be determined, but this can’t be coincidental. Either that, or he’s being used as bait. Despite what he said to Sakura, that’s really not a position he wants to be in.

At the same time, he knows his hatred for Sai might just be a little outdated, and incredibly irrational. Sakura notices, too. “I don’t like the way he talks to you,” Sasuke says when she asks, which is true enough, because to make it worse, Sai’s also a dick.

Sakura laughs. “I can take care of a guy like him,” she says, and watches him and Kakashi below, talking about the mission. They’re in the River Country, here to take out a group of missing-nin mercenaries disrupting trade routes, and Sasuke’s getting twitchy. “He’s not any worse than the girls back in the Academy.”

While girls in the Academy might’ve sucked, at least they weren’t working for corrupt elders. Frowning, Sasuke says, “You don’t like him anymore than I do.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because he’s replacing Naruto.” Down below, Kakashi’s body language changes, leaning back a little, shoulders angling away, and at least Sasuke knows none of them like the guy. Emotions are easy to read with the Sharingan. “Tsunade-sama better kick him off once the real Team Kakashi’s back together.”

This is mean. Sasuke really doesn’t care. “Naruto should get back fast then,” he says, crossing his arms and leaning back against the truck of the tree, searching out movement in the direction of the river. “I might kill him first.”

Hitting his arm lightly, Sakura says, “Stop being so melodramatic. You’re just mad because he insulted your eyes.”

“Genjutsu is just as useful as his ink transformations!”

Last time, he relied a lot more on ninjutsu than he does now, but he’s been mostly on information gathering missions. Though Kakashi won’t give him a straight answer, he thinks it’s because there’s at least a slight worry that he’s going to get himself killed using too much chakra. Sasuke’s eyes might not be as strong as Itachi’s in anything other than his control over Amaterasu, but he’s good enough to make people talk, and then forget they’d ever seen his team, if that’s necessary.

It’s something he shouldn’t admit, but it’s actually a little fun.

Sakura says laughs, quiet but clear, twisting through the warm June air, and it doesn’t take long before Sasuke’s laughing, too.

 

 

A month after Sasuke’s uneventful thirteenth birthday, they get a mission in the northeast part of the Fire Country, which he thinks it weird, considering where it’s near, but not enough that he cares. Still, he’s not surprised when they’re ambushed on their way back.

This time, Orochimaru planned ahead, and sent in both a water user, and a wind user, as well as someone who uses a brace like the guy from the chuunin exam, and one with a chokuto, which Sasuke struggles not to show his excitement over. Sai’s not with them, which he usually isn’t for information gathering, and it’s three against four. Sasuke doesn’t recognize any of them. Between Kakashi, and the Mangekyo Sharingan, though, there’s no real reason to worry.

They have the cursed seal, though, which means this needs to be quick. There’s no time to talk over a plan, but after a year together, Team Kakashi doesn’t need to anymore; Sakura goes straight for the one with the brace, strength and medical jutsu at the ready, while Kakashi goes for the two with nature transformation, ready to hold both off until one of their students can help; Sasuke goes for the chokuto, not its wielder, and aims to disarm, not kill.

Orochimaru didn’t send idiots, and the four aren’t about to underestimate them, but there’s still not much a normal blade can do against one made from lightning. The two connect, the electricity shooting down the metal of the chokuto, sending a shock through the man’s body. With that, his arm turns to dead, the charge having attacked the nerves the way Sakura showed him, and Sasuke catches the chokuto before it can hit the ground. As the man begins to transition into the seal’s Stage Two form, Sasuke’s already moving, and the blade goes straight through his heart. Killing still leaves him with a bad feeling, but it’s better than letting them report on what Sakura can do, too.

As he turns, he sees her hit the girl, the wind user, in the chest, and she crumples to her ground at Sakura’s feet. With her cut cheek, and clawed leg, she’s the worst off of all of them, and it’s not until that he realizes there’s a cut down his arm from the chokuto. In the moment he charged it, he must’ve made it unblockable; if he were angled any other way, this would’ve been a lot worse.

Unsurprisingly, Kakashi is uninjured. A couple Oto-nin must’ve been nothing for him. “This one’s alive,” he says, pointing to the passed out, bloody sound user a few feet away from him. “We’ll take him back from Konoha. Sasuke, burn the corpses. There’s no need to give Orochimaru an opportunity to glean how we killed them through an autopsy.”

It’ll be a warning, too, which goes without saying. For Sakura, this is the first time she’s ever killed anyone, and her face is pale. He’ll do something to help her later, when they’re a safe distance from this place. “Let me heal your arm, Sasuke-kun,” she says, though she hasn’t used the honorific in a while, and Kakashi says she needs to heal herself before anything else.

He burns the bodies with a couple of Kanton jutsu, and comes away feeling fine.

When he said Orochimaru wasn’t going to take him, he meant it, and if he ever attacks himself instead of sending his men, then Sasuke will just kill him, too.

 

 

The first time Naruto hears about his team, he’s in the Earth Country.

“I’m telling you, Keiko,” a man says two seats down from where Naruto’s eating ramen, Jiraiya off drinking at some place he wasn’t allowed to enter on account of his age. “Just ‘cause Little Uchiha and Pink aren’t jounin doesn’t mean they aren’t scary as fuck.”

Naruto coughs into his bowl, not sure if he’s supposed to laugh or not at “Little Uchiha” because they can only mean Sasuke. In Konoha it’s not like he’s ever known as Itachi’s younger brother, but Naruto’s not surprised the same doesn’t apply to everywhere else. Hearing the clan name thrown around isn’t all that unusual, he’s found.

Sounding all skeptical, the girl—Keiko—says, “They’ve got Copy Cat Kakashi with them. It’s not like they’d be this well known without him.”

But the guy just shrugs. “S’not what Hideki says. Hideki went on probo for loose lips, remember? Says it was Uchiha, that the kid made him see things.”

“Yeah,” Keiko says, “and other reports say he can call lightning from the sky on a clear day, and Pink break boulders with her fist. Fuck that, at least Uchiha’s got to be a child if the rumors about his brother were true a few years back.” There’s a pause, and then she adds, “What? Say something you like, Konoha?”

It takes Naruto a second to realize she’s talking to him. Oh. He hadn’t meant to stare. Before he can answer, the guy says, “Hey, he probably knows something. They’re Konoha-nin, too. That’s why you’re looking, isn’t it, kid?”

Well, now Naruto’s caught, but it’s not like he’s going to sell out his team. Still, he has a feeling they won’t like it if he just tries to leave. Iwa and Konoha aren’t on the best terms, and it doesn’t matter if he isn’t actually in the village. “A little,” he says, making sure to look at them, because Jiraiya told him looking away is the surefire way to let people know you’re lying. “We were classmates back in the Academy. Haven’t seen them since graduation, though.”

Both of them look him up at down, assessing. “I’m Masaru,” the guy says. “This is Keiko.”

“Iruka.” Of all the names to think of, naturally that has to be the first one after Sasuke and Kakashi. “Haruno and Uchiha were the best in our year, but I don’t really know anything past that. He seriously made lightning out of nothing?”

While he knows Sasuke can totally do this, because he used it against that Kabuto guy, according to Jiraiya, Naruto thinks it’s probably better to act at least a little surprise. After a quick glance at each other, Masaru says, “That’s what I’ve been hearing. And a lot of other stuff.”

“I’m still saying it’s bullshit,” Keiko says, and sips her drink. “I’ve fought a lot of Kumo-nin, and I’ve never even seen one of them do something like that. Kekkei genkei or no, there’s no way Uchiha’s that special. And if they’re teammates, then they’ve got to be about the same age. Girl can’t be that strong.”

If she got better at her chakra-enhanced taijutsu, then yes, she totally can. As guilty as he still feels for not convincing Jiraiya to let him go back, at least it sounds like his team is together. “Hatake Kakashi graduated when he was five,” Naruto says. “Thirteen’s not that young.”

With a shrug, Masaru says, “That’s a once in a lifetime find, and there’re laws for a reason. I still think they should push it even older, let kids be kids longer. You’re thirteen?”

“Fourteen.”

“Eh, that’s old enough,” Masaru says. “Hope you never have to live through a war. There’s nothing fun about burying children.”

They must be about Kakashi’s age, maybe a little older, Naruto realizes. In all the time he’d been in the Academy, and now a full-fledged shinobi, no one ever said that about his age before, and he feels like he should probably be insulted. For some reason, he isn’t, and blurts out, “They would’ve passed him younger,” instead.

Again, the two Iwa-nin exchange a look. “Goddamn genjutsu expert children,” Masaru says, shaking his head. “World’s a fucked up place.”

Keiko calls for their bill, and Naruto doesn’t understand how the conversation went from arguing about rumors to getting sad over Sasuke’s age.

 

 

It’s a random information gathering mission just inside Amegakure where Sasuke runs into Itachi, both alone. “If you attack,” Sasuke says, “I’m going to call for my team. Don’t make me.”

Though they aren’t far away, they’re out of sight, and Itachi’s chakra is too suppressed for even Kakashi to sense. One shot in the air with a Chidori, though, and they’re bound to notice. “You shouldn’t be here, Sasuke,” he says. “Go back to Konoha where you belong.”

Sasuke was right, then. Last time he scared Itachi enough to break him of his horribly thought up protection act that had nothing to do with protection at all. “I’m a shinobi,” he says, and it begins to rain, dark clouds stretching out from Ame. “I go where the Hokage tells me to.”

“And if she told you to stay away from business that doesn’t concern you?”

“Are you really in the position to tell me what I can’t do?” Itachi, expectedly, doesn’t have an answer for this. “I know about our family. Orochimaru’s after me, so I got access to ANBU files, no one noticed I looked at the wrong ones. There was a report from you in there that shouldn’t be.”

Itachi inches forward, once, twice. “I told you to stop looking.”

With a shrug, Sasuke says, “You lost your right to tell me what to do when you left.”

A look passes over his brother’s face, vague and close to hurt, but Sasuke meant what he said. Some of the anger’s cooled down, sure, but there’s been something wrong with him lately—or more than usual, anyway—and he fully blames everyone’s not so subtle attempts to get a name out of him. He’s taken to sleeping at Sakura’s house, even if he isn’t supposed to, and keeps wondering if it would easier with his brother back in Konoha, because if there’s anyone that wouldn’t push, it’s Itachi.

He should’ve kept his mouth shut.

“There’s nothing I can say now, is there?”

“You’re supposed to be the smart one,” Sasuke says, and it comes out harsher than he means it to. “You tell me.”

By now, Itachi’s already sick, but probably Tsunade could heal him. What’s the point of protecting Shimura Danzo anyway? Or anyone involved? It doesn’t matter if the Uchiha clan was at least partially at fault; meeting aggression with aggression is something shinobi do with other villages, not within their own. Over the past almost six years now, Sasuke’s figured that out. It’s not like world peace or anything is the answer the way Madara tried to tell him, but there’s at least something to be said for keeping bloodshed to a minimum within the walls of your village.

When Itachi reaches out for him, Sasuke moves away. “I’m not falling for that again,” and lifts his hands for to make the necessary seals. “Maybe next time I see you, I’ll have answers.”

He disappears in a Shunshin Itachi could’ve stopped if he wanted to, and reappears next to Sakura. If she notices anything wrong, at least she has the decency not to mention it.

 

 

Waking up to find Sasuke next to her isn’t all that unusual these days, though he hasn’t told why he shows up all the time. She’s starting to get worried, but doesn’t know how to ask him about it, and ever since the mission near Amegakure, he’s just been worse. It’s like he gets sad, and then forgets how to be happy for days.

According to Dad, it’s puberty, and Mom’s answer was to bite her lip and say that _maybe_ Sasuke’ll grow it of it. Hard emphasis on the maybe.

“You need to meet Kakashi-sensei today,” she says, yawning, and pokes his shoulder, but he hates mornings, and just rolls over, pulling the blankets over his head. At least this is normal. “Sasuke, get up.”

“Five more minutes.”

She rolls her eyes. “If you want five more minutes, you should’ve stayed home,” she says. Really, shinobi are supposed to be early risers, and Kakashi just enables his bad habit. “You want a shower, right? You can’t shower, _and_ make it to breakfast.”

Voice muffled, he says, “Then I’ll skip breakfast,” and buries deeper into the mattress.

“I’m not letting you potentially go on a mission with an empty stomach,” she says, and pokes him again, harder. “ _Sasuke._ ”

When she finally wins, he sits up, hair even messier than usual, and eyes half open. “Breakfast?”

As she gets out of bed, she answers, “After the shower—and hurry up, before my parents realize we shared.”

They didn’t care when the three of them were kids. During sleepovers, she, Naruto, and Sasuke would all cram into her bed, arms and legs whacking into each other during the night, and once they all grew enough, the boys started taking the floor. Considering that just two fit, she assumed her parents would fine again, since it’s not like all of them don’t huddle together during missions, but they’ve been weird about it. Maybe Mom can sense the crush she hasn’t even told Naruto about, or maybe it’s just that thing where parents think boys and girls sharing should be off-limits, but either way, Sakura knows it’s probably better if they don’t find out.

Also, she really doesn’t know how to explain that if there’s one boy in the world they don’t need to worry about, it’s Sasuke.

He rubs his eye, slipping out her bedroom door in the direction of the bathroom, and she throws some blankets on the floor to make it look like he slept there. Though they don’t know exactly where he was sleeping, they at least know he was here. It’s not like he just appears at her window or anything. He’s actually polite enough to knock on the front door and ask whichever parent is home if it’s all right if he stays the night. They’ve never said no.

From downstairs, Mom calls, “Sakura, Sasuke, breakfast!” and they haven’t had the kitchen stocked with ramen in almost a year.

 

 

“She’s going to be fine, Sasuke.”

“But what if—”

“Focus on the mission, Sasuke _._ ”

Ever since the kid got shoved on him, Kakashi’s grown accustom to Sasuke worrying over his teammates’ potential deaths, but it’s usually targeted towards Naruto, who they still haven’t heard anything about. But Tsunade finally decided Sakura’s learned enough to end an official apprenticeship and advance, so she’s off to take the chuunin exam in Suna. Kakashi knows she can do it, and thinks Sasuke knows it too, but that doesn’t stop him from acting like he’s half a second away from running after her.

If they weren’t a mission themselves, maybe he’d even do it. Normally Kakashi can handle his student just fine, but Sai’s here, too, and they’re tracking down a lead on the Akatsuki. It’s not a good combination. “Sakura’s very skilled,” Sai says, and Sasuke’s frown twists down further. “She’s nothing to fear in the chuunin exams.”

Sasuke doesn’t even justify that with an answer. “The two of you are friends with the Kazekage and his family,” Kakashi points out. “Nothing’s going to happen to her.”

It doesn’t sound very reassuring to him, either. During Sasuke’s chuunin exams, eight people died before the Forest of Death; in Kakashi’s, twice that many. There’s also the matter of Orochimaru and the invasion, of course, but nothing was reported at the one in Iwagakure were Team Eight, and Shino advanced. Sakura’s participating with Hinata and Kiba, and even if Orochimaru turns his focus away from Sasuke to go after powerful kekkei genkei doujutsu, he’s more likely to target Hyuga Neji than his cousin.

“Naruto should be there, too,” Sasuke answers, which is his way of saying his teammates would be safer together.

Well, at least his trust in what they can do is improving, Kakashi thinks. “This gives Sakura bragging rights when he returns,” he says. “She’ll love that.”

Sai looks back at them, head tilted. “When did this become a competition?”

He sounds almost annoyed, which is a first. If Sasuke were in a better mood, Kakashi would try to catch his attention, see if he noticed, too. “It’s not a competition,” Sasuke says, and the frown turns into a smirk. “We’re just good.”

Now this is him lashing out, and Kakashi isn’t in the mood to deal with that today. Not on a mission. When they were younger, he thought Sakura’s harmless crush on Sasuke was one-sided, but recently he’s started having a suspicion it might not be after all. Regardless, that doesn’t give him the right to try to rope his teammate into an argument.

“Save it for Konoha, Sasuke,” Kakashi says, and privately adds, _where Sakura can break it up._ “We should release the clones now to see if they’ve learned anything.”

They do, and he’s expecting them to still be too far away to have found the target at all. Instead, Sai has a location, and Kakashi hadn’t known Sasuke’s mood could get any worse.

 

 

It turns out the target’s was a loyal Ame-nin named Fukui Shun, and the leader of the Akatsuki doubles as the leader of Amegakure. Fukui Shun paid the price for Sasuke’s bad mood, but the information extracted so good, and everything more busy than usual that day, that Tsunade didn’t have time to listen when Kakashi tried to tell her that he wants his student to have an official evaluation. Those are rare, but the search information on Itachi and the massacre comes to a standstill, and he must have gotten something from the Ame-nin he didn’t share, and didn’t like, because the bad mood stays.

For days, Kakashi means to speak with Tsunade and get permission, but Sakura’s return changes his mind. Sasuke was just worried, something he’s acknowledged he has a problem with. When she immediately throws herself at him, going on about advancing and ignoring everyone else in the room, he actually hugs her back, and smiles like everything is right with the world again.

It’s something Kakashi recognizes. He and Rin were never romantically involved, and he never wanted to be, but before everything, his reaction to any reunion after a long term mission was similar.

So quietly he barely hears, Sakura says, “I missed you,” and Sasuke says, “Yeah, you too.”

Kakashi makes his exit, leaving them to each other, and wonders exactly how different things are going to be when Naruto gets back.

 

 

Not sleeping for days becomes a common occurrence, and Sasuke doesn’t think he would’ve been separated from his team if it weren’t for that. He hears the noise, and activates the Sharingan, catching sight of the Oto-nin before they gain any surprise advantage. Outside of that, there’s nothing he can do.

Despite the exhaustion, he has more energy than he knows what to do with, but anything good ends there. It also leaves him with difficulty thinking, and it takes him longer than it should to realize that the girl Oto-nin is actually Orochimaru in surprise, because he hasn’t made a direct attack since the exams.

Both of the others are water users, and by matter of convenience, Sasuke kills the two of them first. One he takes out with the Chidori, the other with the chokuto, and then he goes to turn his attention to the third. But then her neck’s stretching out, and she’s Orochimaru already—it’s only the sleep deprived, jittery adrenaline rush and like last time, a burst of the Chidori stops the attack.

The snakes come up next, rearing from behind, and Sasuke decides it’s not the time to care about chakra preservation; he summons Susanoo. Unfortunately, he feels the effects immediately, the lack of sleep catching up to him already.

“You won’t last much longer, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru says, hanging back, the snakes now waiting in a circle, and even Sasuke knows he’s out of options. This hadn’t been thought out very well. “What plan do you have left?”

He thinks of his first fifteenth birthday, of asking if he could have a mission somewhere outside Oto to prove himself as an excuse to get away, and the request getting shot down. For the past year, he’d been dreaming about killing about Orochimaru. That was the day solidified the decision. Six months later, and the man died in his bed.

No. There’s not going to be another day like that. There’s not going to be another seal, or another chance.

With just a thought, Susanoo lifts a sword Sasuke didn’t realize it had, and he coats it with Amaterasu, confident that even like this, he can control the two together. Orochimaru tries to get away, but it doesn’t matter; Susanoo, a current embodiment of all Sasuke’s anger and panic and fear, is too fast. The flames explode, spreading across the area from the ground up the trees, spitting into the air, and this must be before Orochimaru learned to shift his body into a snake. He dies to something worse than the Oto-nin who came with him, his summons burning along with him. It’s only a matter of minutes before Susanoo fades.

As Sasuke passes out, he has just enough time to extinguish the flames. Hopefully his team finds him soon, because despite everything, he’d rather not die here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Orochimaru's death is quick, but have you ever noticed he literally dies in a chapter and three pages? Or gets absorbed, whatever, he's still one of the fastest villains to get offed in the series. 
> 
> Also! I know Sasuke's character gets a little erratic. There is a reason for it. By this point he's been through enough that I imagine the effects, for lack of a better word, would become more and more outwardly obvious. 
> 
> Oh, and sorry for the negative portrayal of Sai's character. I actually really like him. He just hasn't gotten that dose of reality yet because circumstances are different.


	10. chapter ix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke half-accomplishes another goal, and Naruto returns to find a very different Konoha than the one he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naruto returns a few months earlier than in canon, which is why they aren't immediately off to go save Gaara. This chapter played out a little differently than I intended because of the weird time frame I had to write it, but it still works. I think.

In the aftermath of Orochimaru’s death, Sasuke gets treated like some sort of hero. He’s not surprised when a throwaway statement he made to Sakura a little over two years ago becomes true.

“Congratulations, Sleeping Beauty,” Kakashi says a full month later, appearing in the open doorway of Sasuke’s room where he’d been trying to catch another half hour of sleep, something he can only do on the days Sakura isn’t with him. Her obsession with early rising is annoying. “You’ve made it into the Bingo Book.”

The clock on the nightstand tells him it’s eight in the morning. “I hate you,” he says, unable to think up a better insult, and pulls open the curtains, letting in the sunlight. Then he registers what Kakashi really said. “Really?”

It’s too early for this, he thinks. Last time he made it into the Bingo Book at thirteen, and the price kept climbing, but circumstances are different. “You’ve done enough to earn yourself a reputation,” Kakashi answers as Sasuke sits up. “No price, so Kiri’s hunter-nin haven’t gotten their hands on your write up yet, but there is a ‘flee on sight’ warning. You were added by the Tsuchikage. Suppose that makes sense. Iwa hates everyone.”

“But I’m not a missing-nin.”

Flipping open his little black book, Kakashi says,  “Neither am I. Were you aware you’re known as ‘Little Uchiha?’”

Eight in the morning means there’s still a chance is this a bad dream, but Sasuke doubts it. For most shinobi, it’s some sort of honor getting into the Bingo Book, but he’d rather go through his career unrecognized. “I’m not that short,” he says and adds, as an afterthought, “Or young.”

“I think it has to do with being Itachi’s little brother,” Kakashi says. “He’s in here too, see. His price is even higher than mine. Little Uchiha. I think it’s adorable. Sakura’s going to love it.”

He dodges the pillow Sasuke throws at him. “Get out,” he says, pulling himself out of bed. “I need a shower. Unless there’s something else?”

“Tsunade wants to see us,” Kakashi says. “Don’t take too long. She doesn’t like it when I keep her waiting for more than an hour.”

Kakashi’s the only shinobi in the world who has a time limit on being late. With a tired nod, Sasuke slips into the bathroom, and tries not to think about how ending up in the Bingo Book as a chuunin will lead to unwanted questions.

 

 

The second time Naruto hears about his team is in the Water Country, and it’s from Jiraiya. “Orochimaru’s dead,” he says, dropping a black book on the table that Naruto recognizes from Kakashi. “Your friend did it.”

There’s a page dog-eared. Naruto flips to it, finds Sasuke’s name in bold letters. “What the hell?” Naruto says, reading it over. Looks like Sasuke grew. “Where’d you find this?”

“Off a hunter-nin stupid enough to try and attack me,” Jiraiya answers. “I thought it would interesting to check out any new names.” He points to the bottom. “Look at that.”

“Eighty thousand ryo!” It’s written in the same small print as the rest of the information, and last Naruto checked, killing Orochimaru is a good thing. Having a bounty doesn’t make sense. “But that’s the same price as a C-ranking mission.”

If Sasuke has a price on his head, then he’s in danger every time he goes on a mission. Or, well, every shinobi is anyway, but now he _especially_ is. “I know,” Jiraiya says. “I’m surprised it’s so low.”

Naruto rent was less than eighty thousand a year. This so isn’t a low price, even if it doesn’t compare to, say, Jiraiya or Kakashi. “We need to go back to Konoha,” he says, because he’s been wanting to for the past two years, and finally has a good excuse. “He needs me there to watch his back.”

Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke’s still probably going to get himself killed out of carelessness. All it’ll take is someone realizing they need to try and attack Sakura. Just because it says “flee on sight” doesn’t mean people’ll actually run. After all, there’s a bounty now. If there’s anything Naruto’s learned, it’s that a lot of shinobi will do just about anything for money.

But Jiraiya isn’t convinced. “You haven’t figured out total control yet,” he says. “You’re almost there, but not quite.”

“I can’t hide from the Akatsuki forever,” Naruto says, glancing down at his friend’s page. Sasuke had someone after him, too, and now Orochimaru’s gone. “Come on, Jiraiya-sensei, I want field experience. Real experience! I want to take the chuunin exam, and go on missions, and have my sixteenth birthday with my friends. Sasuke killed Orochimaru, right? And Sakura’s learning from Tsunade? It’s not like I’ll be with a team who’re too weak to help me out.”

Convincing Jiraiya took longer than Naruto wanted, but shorter than he thought, and six hours later, he’s packing up to head home.

 

 

 

It’s one of those days where Sasuke’s in a good mood, a really good mood, when he meets Shimura Danzo right outside the Hokage’s office.

With Sakura hanging on his arm, doing a quiet, dead on imitation of Sai that leaves Sasuke struggling not to laugh, he almost doesn’t notice. Despite knowing the man’s name, he’s never seen his face. But his memory’s better than he thought, and as Itachi’s best friend, Shisui was around a lot in his childhood.

Sasuke doesn’t realizes he’s stopped walking until Danzo does too, and asks, “May I help you, young man?”

When Sakura stiffens, Sasuke knows she must have pieced it together, too, and Shizune, Kakashi, and Tsunade abruptly end whatever conversation they’re having just inside, out of the room but in earshot. “You have my cousin’s chakra signature,” Sasuke says, more genuinely horrified than he expected, as he already knew this.

Sakura’s hand moves away from his elbow and into his. “I’m sorry,” Danzo says, “but you’re mistaken. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Before he can move past, the others are there, and about half the people in the area have stopped to look in. Sasuke had imagined running into Danzo more than once over the years, but this wasn’t how he thought it was going to happen.

“What’s going on here?” Tsunade asks, and Kakashi gets a grip on Sasuke’s upper arm, like he’s ready to pull him away if he has to.

“I’m not sure,” Danzo answers. “The boy just—”

“He has Shisui’s chakra signature.”

Even as Sasuke says it, it’s fading, but the feeling was the same as when Kakashi uses his Sharingan—awkward, and two-toned, and not unlike Naruto’s. For Danzo to have Shisui’s, then he must’ve just been using it.

Which room did he come out of? Tsunade’s, or one of the ones near it?

She glances around to all the other shinobi here before saying, “How about we sort this out in my office?”

Though he’s wanted this for a long time, Sasuke finds himself scared in a way he wasn’t when facing down Orochimaru or Kabuto as Sakura and Kakashi lead him inside. This isn’t about saving himself, or saving Konoha, or anything to do with potential physical harm.

This has to do with Itachi, and there are few things harder to deal with than the truth.

 

 

For several reasons, Kakashi was hoping Sasuke and Danzo wouldn’t meet unless some better proof was gathered.  Even killing Orochimaru doesn’t give his student the village power or respect necessary to accuse an elder of something like ordering a thirteen-year-old in massacring his family. For Sasuke’s safety more than anything else, Kakashi keeps the hold on his arm, ready to intervene when things go south.

There’s a moment of silence after the door closes, Shizune and Sakura stationed outside, and Sasuke keeps looking from the carpet to Danzo, who’s focus is entirely on Tsunade. “So,” she says, “Sasuke. I suppose I’ll ask you first. What did you mean in saying Shimura-san Shisui’s chakra signature?”

“He just _does_ , I don’t know,” Sasuke answers, and his eyes flit around the room. “It’s what happens when a person implants the Sharingan.”

“What a ridiculous accusation,” Danzo says. “That implies murder. Uchiha Shisui committed suicide, it’s a known—”

Tsunade holds up her hand, stopping him, and turns her attention back to Sasuke. “How did you recognize the chakra signature after seven years?” she says.

Normally, children can’t tell one signature from the other. Kakashi could at seven, and presumably so could Itachi. With how skilled Sasuke was right after his gennin exam, though, the idea that he could too really isn’t all that surprising. “I spent a lot of time with him when I younger,” he says. “He helped Itachi teach me how to read. It’s not something I’d forget that easily. And I know he committed suicide, but he was missing his eyes when he died.”

After Sasuke told him, Kakashi checked the archives for the coroner’s report, and found exactly what his student said he would. But admitting this in front of someone who can get rid of the evidence isn’t a good idea. “Even the family believed Uchiha Itachi was to blame for that,” Danzo says, and Sasuke tenses. Kakashi tightens his grip, willing the kid to keep his mouth shut, and not make this worse. “Here, I’ll prove it to you, and put your mind at ease.”

Kakashi’s half-expecting to see the Sharingan when Danzo unravels the bandages, but all he finds is a normal eye, blinded and slashed up, completely useless. “I’ve heard the past few weeks have been stressful for you,” he says to Sasuke. “It’s no surprise you’ve gotten a little confused. Perhaps a short break is in—”

“Sasuke!”

His Sharingan’s activated, despite what even Kakashi see is Danzo’s clear innocence, except then it isn’t so clear, because it feels like there’s a fog over his brain. A moment and head shake later, the eye isn’t so normal anymore. It’s a Sharingan, a Mangekyo, and Sasuke’s smirking. “No matter how strong Shisui’s eyes were,” he says, “now that it’s implanted into you, it’s nothing in comparison to a Sharingan wielded by a born Uchiha.”

Without the Sharingan activated, it’s just as easy to trick a Uchiha as it is anyone else, which is proof by the fact that it worked on Kakashi. Pulling up his forehead protector takes time, but for Danzo to try that in front of Sasuke, he must be incredibly confident.

“Did you just use genjutsu on me?” Tsunade says, standing. “What’re you playing at?”

Sasuke doesn’t give Danzo the time to answer. “It was you,” he says, eyes narrowed, and Kakashi’s reminded strongly of that day in the Wave Country when he questioned Sasuke about his brother for the first time—he’s assessing Danzo in preparation for a strike, if it comes to that. “You were the one who ordered Itachi to kill our family.”

“Excuse me? I’ll admit to a misjudgment in action just now,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean I would ever subject a _child_ to something like that. Hokage-sama, you must understand. My eye is a point of shame. After losing my original—”

Again, Tsunade just holds up her hand. “I think,” she says, “that I want to hear what Sasuke has to say.”

 

 

Naruto returns to find his whole team gone, and Konoha thrown into a full blown manhunt only slightly less frantic than the one for Orochimaru after the guy killed the Sandaime. “You two came back at a hell of a time,” Tsunade says when Naruto finally goes to see her. “Team Kakashi had enough evidence to put Shimura Danzo under suspicion for manipulating the events behind the Uchiha Massacre, but he fled before anyone had the chance to interrogate him. The three of them are running a search through Root.”

After the incident with the Akatsuki in the hotel, Naruto must’ve been more doubtful than he thought about Uchiha Itachi’s innocence, because he’s totally surprised to find out it’s true. From the way Jiraiya’s mouth drops, at least he knows he’s not the only one. “The kid was right?” he says. “His brother’s— _how?_ ”

There’s a pretty much empty bottle of sake on the corner of Tsunade’s desk, and her pen is chewed. “Because Shimura Danzo underestimated the power of a paranoid teenager,” she says, and while Naruto knows Sasuke can be a little off, he doesn’t know if the word he’d use is paranoid. “He was skilled enough to trick even Kakashi with genjutsu, but Sasuke just didn’t give him the time. We’ve had Council members, other elders, and ANBU coming forward with stories about making confusing decisions after speaking with Shimura ever since the news went public. I heard the two of you knew the kid thought his brother acted under duress for a while now.”

“Kakashi might have mentioned it once,” Jiraiya says, and Tsunade glares. “What? It seemed harmless.”

“Harmless?” she says. “I ordered Sasuke to kill his brother. They managed to get their hands on ANBU files, which might have turned out to be a good thing, but the fact remains that this wasn’t _harmless_.”

Though Naruto knew he was going to miss a lot in two years, he wasn’t expecting this much. “If this guy thought his Sharingan was going to work on Sasuke,” he says, “then he’s got to be really strong, right? Are you they going to be all right?”

“They’re part of a team of ten,” Tsunade answers. “They’ll be fine.”

Even as she says it, he gets this feeling like something very bad is about to happen. Sakura can break boulders, and Sasuke can call lightning from the sky, Naruto reminds himself, and it doesn’t make him feel any better.

 

 

Despite his connections to Root, spending as much time with Team Kakashi as he did apparently forced some sort of loyalty on Sai, because though he can’t tell them anything directly, he did what he could through drawings and offhanded remarks. He also, after a bit of reluctance, got them inside undetected. Sasuke even manages to feel a little bad for how often he and Sakura made fun of him.

Though Danzo wasn’t there, Sasuke found the rest of Itachi’s reports, along with thousands of others of backdoor operations. After they’re out of the village, he finally confronts Sai about it, and the other boy answers, “Everything he does, he does for the good of Konoha.”

When Sasuke defected, at least he knew his actions were wrong and self-serving. If Danzo really believes that, then he’s even worse than Sasuke thought. “What do you think he’s going to do now?”

Sai shrugs, which either means he doesn’t know, or he can’t say because of the seal in his mouth. The only way they’ll get answers out of anyone in Root is if Danzo dies. “Is this enough to bring your brother home?” Sai asks, and Sasuke nods, but this isn’t just about Itachi anymore.

Except, that’s not true. Maybe it is for everyone else, but not for him. It doesn’t matter how angry Sasuke is; he told Itachi he was going to save him, so he’s going to. Despite Itachi’s insistence that Sasuke just had to be the one to kill him, it’s starting to look like maybe he wanted the truth to be found, because it’s his fault there’s a paper trail. Most shinobi don’t demand written contracts for any sort of covert operation, but he had.

“Sai,” Sakura says as she comes up next to Sasuke, arm brushing up against his, and lately he’s been having days where she’s the only person that makes any sense, “can we have a minute alone, please?”

He sits the moment the other boy is gone, back against the tree, and she joins him, so close they’re touching. No matter how many times Sasuke tells himself he’s over this, that it’s been too long for it to affect him, the truth is this getting to him more than it should be. It seems like most people just assume it will, too, but Sakura, who’s at his side more often than not, notices it.

For the first few minutes, she lets him stay quiet. Then she asks, “What did it say?”

The contract is with Kakashi, who hasn’t let Sasuke see it since he found it so he won’t obsess over it, but that’s a wasted effort. Like the rest of the papers, he saw it with the Sharingan, and now it’s burned into his memory. “Itachi would stop the rebellion through the massacre,” he answers, “and join the Akatsuki to keep them away from Konoha. In return, Danzo wasn’t allowed to touch me, and he had to make sure no one else did, either. If I died, Itachi had full right to come back and expose the truth.”

It was written in plain language, not code, and clearly signed by both parties. That’s what’s getting to him. As much as he’s wanted to save his brother, there’s been a certain level of anger and resentment that hasn’t gone away, because he still thought any intent for protection was born of mostly selfish reasons. This is just proof of the contrary, though. Maybe the way Itachi went about it wasn’t the best, and he hadn’t really thought it through, but demanding a contract could have gotten him killed on the spot, and all his terms have to do with his little brother.

Sasuke thought he was done with all the revenge bullshit, but he feels such a large surge of anger towards Danzo and anyone else involved that he has to dig his nails into his palm to stop himself from doing something. Inevitably, Danzo’s going to be declared a missing-nin, and Konoha’s going to send their best shinobi after him, and all Sasuke knows is that he wants to be the one to kill him.

When Sakura takes his hand, prying open his fingers, he doesn’t have the energy to stop her. “I’ve already healed your eyes,” she says. “Don’t make me heal your hand, too.”

Sometime later, Kakashi comes over, Sai training behind him, to tell them they’re heading back. Sasuke stands, holding out his hand to help Sakura up, and no one comments on the line of red slicking his palm.

 

 

Though Sasuke was one of the more important members of the search party, and Sakura’s Tsunade apprentice, Kakashi gives both of them permission to skip out on any meeting. They end up back at the apartment, too exhausted to do so much as stop and talk to anyone.

Sasuke showers first, then Sakura, and he leaves her a change of clothes outside the bathroom door. When she enters the main area, he’s just finishing making them something to eat, and looks about a second away from falling asleep. “Sorry for the overdose of tomatoes,” he says as she sits down across from him at the living room coffee table. “I felt like a lot was necessary.”

Unlike most teenagers, sugary substances aren’t his comfort food, but she’ll get dango on her own later. “Whatever, it’s still good,” she says, and picks up as much rice with her chopsticks as she can. “I want to sleep forever.”

“You can sleep here,” he says, and rubs his eye. “I’m not going to last too long after this.”

By now, they sleep with each other regularly, something most of the girls in their graduating class would kill her for. He’s the only person she feels like she can comfortably talk to about anything. Whenever something bad happens, she’s the one he comes to. After she made her first kill, he sat down with her and talked through every step of logic that justified stopping the man’s heart from beating until she believed him. She’s had a crush on him for years, one she tried so hard to ignore, but looking at him now, when he seems so dejected and lost, it hits her that maybe those feelings aren’t as gone as she thought.

That alone means she should start saying no. “Sure,” she says anyway, and turns her attention back to her food.

 

 

Somehow, Naruto finds out his team’s back before they find out he is. He rushes first to the Haruno residence, only to find out they haven’t shown up yet, and after prying himself away from another round of Mebuki-san’s coddling, he makes it to Kakashi-sensei’s apartment. All it takes is two hard knocks on the door, and then a half-asleep Sakura’s opening it, the sleeve of a shirt obviously not hers slipping off one shoulder.

Her eyes widen at sight of him. “Naruto?” she says, but he’s already shouted her name, sweeping her up in a hug and, and when she wraps her arms around his neck, he feels like something in his life’s finally slid back into place.

When Sasuke shows up, just as flabbergasted as she is, Naruto puts her down and completely ignores his friend’s reservations towards personal space, not picking him up, but hugging him just as tightly. After a moment, he even hugs back. “So much for coming home,” he says as he moves away. “Took you long enough.”

“Yeah,” Sakura says, appearing at Sasuke’s side. “Where’ve you been, jerk?”

“All over the place,” Naruto answers, looking back and forth between the two of them, and realizing already just how _different_ they are. “And hey, I tried. Like, you have no idea. I only convinced him to let me come back like a month ago.”

For the first time ever, he and Sasuke are looking each other eye to eye. Sakura’s really short now, barely hitting their chins, with her hair still chopping to the way it was in the chuunin exams. Sasuke’s hair is longer in the back than it used to be, and the shirt he’s wearing doesn’t have the Uchiha clan symbol on it. That’s when Naruto realizes the one Sakura’s wearing is their friend’s.

Oh no, he thinks. Things couldn’t have changed _that_ much.

“I can’t believe you’re home,” Sakura says. “And taller than me! What’s the world coming to?”

She’s different, too, somehow even prettier than she used to be, and she was really pretty to begin with. “Had to happen eventually, right?” Naruto says with an awkward smile. “You should’ve seen your parents. Your dad went on about how I’m growing boy, and asked if I’d gotten any better at eating my vegetables—what’s wrong?”

Again, Sakura’s eyes wide. “My parents,” she says, and looks up at Sasuke. “I’m the worst daughter ever. They’re going to kill us for not telling them we got home okay.”

“They already know,” Naruto says quickly. “How’d you think I knew where you were? It’s like the talk of Konoha that the search party came back. I heard what happened. Congrats. Does this mean you can get Itachi back?”

Nodding, Sasuke says, “If we can find him. And if I’m allowed on the retrieval mission. Chuunin aren’t traditionally allowed on S-ranks.”

“But you killed Orochimaru! That’s got to give you some sort of advantage, right?”

For a second, his friends just stare at him. Then Sakura asks, “How’d you know about that?” and glances at Sasuke, eyebrow raised. He just shrugs, and Naruto has no idea what that meant.

He pictured their reunion filled with a bunch of “I miss yous” and tears of happiness and reminiscing. Instead, this is just mildly uncomfortable. “We got attacked by a Kiri-nin that Jiraiya took out,” he answers. “Your profile was in the guy’s Bingo Book. Well, that and the weird number of shinobi that talk about ‘Copy Cat Kakashi’s team.”

“That’s probably Suna’s fault,” Sasuke says, and doesn’t look surprised. “Hey, you heard about Gaara yet?”

“How he’s Kazekage now?” Naruto says. “’Course. I kept asking to go see him, but Jiraiya-sensei wanted to keep my training a secret. I got some control of the Kyuubi’s chakra at least.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Sakura says, smiling. “I can’t _wait_ until we can all go on missions again. Do you think we’ll lose Sai? I mean, he’s still a dick, but he did help us, and pretty much gave you the okay to kill Danzo.”

With a shrug, Sasuke says, “I don’t care, as long as we’re all allowed back. Team Kakashi mostly works to extract information from enemy-nin,” he adds. “It’s not as boring as it sounds.”

Sakura rolls her eyes. “Maybe for you. You get to do all the fun stuff.”

What was it that the Iwa-nin said? _Goddamn genjutsu expert children._ “Fun stuff” has to mean actually extracting the information, which has to mean at least a low level form of torture. Just a minute ago, they were casually discussing killing someone. Yeah, Naruto knew Sasuke killed Orochimaru, but that’s different. The guy wanted to do some pretty horrible stuff to him. Other than that, both of them always acted as reluctant to kill people as Naruto was. And now they’re calling torture _fun?_

Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong.

“Naruto,” Sakura says, concern leaking into her voice. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” he says. “Who’s Sai?”

For the next twenty minutes, he’s stuck listening to a longwinded, mostly annoyed explanation of a guy they call Your Replacement. Well, at least he knows the fact that they care about him hasn’t changed, Naruto figures, and it isn’t long before they’re all swapping stories.

 

 

Though Kakashi was expecting it to happen eventually, he was hoping Sasuke wouldn’t open the “I want to be a jounin” talk until he was at least a little older.

It’s late, Naruto having just left to go find Iruka, and Sakura has been gone for hours to go see her parents. “I fit all the credentials,” Sasuke says quickly. “I can do more than one nature transformation, I’ve been on the proper number of A-ranking missions, the right variety. I can use enough different type of weapons. It wasn’t a mission, but I did kill an S-class missing-nin. That has to be enough.”

Over the past two months, Sasuke’s killed Orochimaru alone, and uncovered a conspiracy within Konoha’s elders at the risk of his family’s honor. Despite his age and past questions towards whether or not he could handle the shinobi lifestyle, he’s now in enough people’s good favor that if he tries, he’s almost guaranteed to advance. He’s right about fitting the credentials, and Kakashi can’t bring up the excuse of being too young, because that’s just hypocritical.

Sasuke, like his teammates, have grown, but he’s still on the smaller end, and when he stares up, hopeful, he looks twelve again rather than nearly fifteen. “You haven’t been a chuunin all that long,” Kakashi says after a moment. “It would better if you waited.”

“Chuunin can’t go on S-ranking missions,” Sasuke says. “You have the Sharingan, too. No one’s going to let me help in the search for Itachi now.”

When Tsunade wanted him to kill Itachi, that was a different circumstance, and Kakashi knows that, too. Still, he’d rather keep Sasuke as far away from Danzo or the Akatsuki as he can. “You were on probation for mental health just a couple of years ago,” he says, which is something everyone tries not to mention, but is too important to ignore. “That’s not going to be overlooked.”

“But I’m better now,” Sasuke says, “and I have full control of my Mangekyo Sharingan. It’s not like I’d be the first teenager to become a jounin. Itachi was by this age. So were you.”

“Itachi had also been a shinobi for four years by the time he became one,” Kakashi says. “I was six. You’ve been for two and a half.”

“With a fully matured Sharingan for the past four,” his student says. “I can’t get permission without back up from you. I know what’s going to come into question, but I can do it. Please? Itachi’s helped me enough. I should at least return the favor.”

In terms of skill, Sasuke can pull it off, but Kakashi isn’t so convinced about his mental health, and he doesn’t want the same thing that happened to him to happen to his student. “I know you slept earlier today,” he says, “but did you get any rest at all during the last mission?”

By now, he’s noticed a pattern Sasuke’s developed, where he’ll go days without sleeping, whether or not they’re outside Konoha. And the lack of sleep, which should bring exhaustion, doesn’t for days. Instead he’s more likely to talk twice as much as usual, or prone to easy agitation, or get significantly more affectionate with Sakura. He’s a bit like Obito, really, just hyper-focused, and more serious. It’s the days after that most people would probably worry about more, when he grows quiet and sullen and a little sharper around the edges, but the sleeplessness is still what Kakashi considers the bigger problem, because slower reflexes caused by insomnia can get Sasuke killed faster than any bad mood.

So, no, Kakashi isn’t going to give permission, and he’ll just have to get Itachi back himself.

Sasuke says, “A lot of shinobi don’t sleep well on missions,” but there’s a difference between not sleeping _well_ and not sleeping _at all_ , something Sakura can lecture him on for hours if she knew, Kakashi’s sure. “I’m not saying I want to lead the mission or anything, Kakashi. Who would follow someone my age? But I want to be allowed on.”

“I’ll see if I can pull some strings and have you along as a chuunin,” he says, because even if Sasuke has no intention of leading the mission, he’d almost inevitably be given the position of co-squad captain because of his eyes. Kakashi’s fully aware that his dull in comparison. “Maybe in a couple of years, but you need more time as just a member of the team first.”

“No one’s going to let me go as a chuunin,” Sasuke says. “Itachi’s never going to listen to someone other than me, and no other retrieval team will be sent out if he kills them in self-defense. You saw the contract. He’ll think I’m not protected if he’s dead.”

“News of Danzo’s going to travel quickly. He might already know by the time we get to him.”

But that isn’t enough. The contract read that it wasn’t just protection from Danzo, but anyone else, which is a solid indication that others were part of the incident. While they were out investigating Root, there was an internal investigation in Konoha that came up dry to find out who else was involved. Sasuke, picking up on this quickly, says, “There was evidence in more than just ANBU records, so it has to be more than ANBU, right? Itachi’s going to know this, _and_ whoever it is will bar me from going as a chuunin. They can’t if I’m a jounin. It’ll be fully legal.”

“You have the Mangekyo Sharingan, Sasuke,” Kakashi says, frustrated. “Age won’t matter if you’re promoted. You’ll get sent on missions Sakura and Naruto can’t. You might want this rank for just one or two specific missions, but you’d regularly be sent out for a lot more than that.”

With a shrug, Sasuke says, “Fine. Let it happen. I just want my brother back.”

As stubborn as he is, he’s usually more willing to listen than this. “You could’ve gone straight to Tsunade,” Kakashi says. “What’s the point of coming to me first if you didn’t want my opinion?”

“I told you, I would need you to back me up,” Sasuke answers, crossing his arms. “You did so I could stay on active duty already, didn’t you? But the only real reason I was allowed to was because I was supposed to kill Itachi. I thought you were the one person in Konoha who didn’t think I’m insane.”

Unfortunately for Sasuke, there’s a difference between “insane” and “not well.” Insane gets you off duty. Not well just gets you watched. Kakashi was considered the latter, too, in his final years in ANBU. “And I don’t,” Kakashi says, “but it’s not a bad thing if you slow down. At least another few months until you’re fifteen. We can talk about it again then.”

“That’s not going to help with Itachi.”

“You’re his brother, I’m sure I can at least make the case to get you special permission,” he says. “It’s for your own safety, Sasuke. You did some damage. Not everyone’s going to be happy about it. All anyone’d need to do in order to get rid of you is figure out an excuse to give you a solo mission.”

Finally, Sasuke gives, and says, “Do you promise you’ll think about it again when I’m fifteen?”

After Kakashi says he will, Sasuke drops the subject, and goes to bed like he’s trying to prove a point.


	11. chapter x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything might be going right, but Sasuke's still gradually getting worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last part is in Itachi's point of view. But there's a reason. You'll see.

It’s the end of Team Kakashi’s first week reunited, with the permanent addition of Your Replacement, and they’re going to do a repeat of the bell test. As Kakashi gets everything ready, Naruto watches his friends do what they’ve been doing all week. Sasuke, who’s been in an almost endless bad mood the entire time, suddenly has all his focus on a story Sakura’s telling about a patient in the hospital that Naruto can only half-follow, and that neither of them even try to make it understandable.

“Hey, Kakashi-sensei,” he says, unable to take it anymore. Kakashi looks up from whatever he’s doing. “Are they, you know…together?”

So far, he’s been going under the assumption that they aren’t, because they haven’t said anything, and he’s their best friend, so of course they would’ve told him. But they just act like it so much that he needs some sort of straight answer. The Sasuke left in the Uchiha training field two years ago didn’t really like physical contact, but now it’s like he and Sakura are always touching in one way or another. Then there’s just the way half their conversations start like they’re already in the middle of it, and how they have a tendency to block out anyone else in the area.

Which now includes Naruto.

Kakashi stands, and looks over to the where Sakura is laughing at her own story, and Sasuke’s got a small smile on his face. “Not yet,” Kakashi answers. “A lot happened while you were gone, Naruto, and most of it wasn’t good. They coped. Everything’ll go back to normal, just give it a few days. Sakura, Sasuke, ready?”

As they come over, Sasuke asks, “Normal rules apply?”

“Rules?” Naruto says. “Since when did the bell test have rules?”

“We haven’t done a bell test in a while,” Sakura says, “but we have all fought each other for practice. But obviously we don’t want to kill each other, so I’m not allowed to deliver a hit with my full strength, and Sasuke isn’t allowed to charge his chokuto. Kakashi-sensei’s not allowed to summon.”

The look on Kakashi’s face says that he thinks that’s incredibly unfair. Naruto makes a note to ask what the hell made that a rule later. “Do I have one?” he says.

With a slight shrug, Kakashi answers, “No frogs?” and pushes up his forehead protector.

Naruto’s surprise lasts all of five seconds, because it makes sense that going against Sasuke can’t be easy without it.

When Kakashi calls start, they all separate, him going off in one direction, and the three of them in another. “Are you still good with the Rasengan?” Sasuke asks immediately, activating his Sharingan, but it’s different than Naruto remembers. That’s because it’s the Mangekyo, he realizes, which means so much for his friend hating to use it.

“Yeah,” he answers. “Which direction should I come from? Front?”

Nodding, Sasuke says, “He’s fast enough to dodge. Get out of the way as quick as you can. It’s not so easy to dodge the Chidori needles. Sakura, you know what to do.”

She nods, too. Then, getting that Naruto’s completely lost, adds, “We’re going to force him to the water. Sasuke can’t see through the mist, either, but all he needs to do is get close enough for them to see each other. You can use your clones as a distraction, Naruto. Kakashi-sensei will still be able to make out shapes. Uh, Sasuke’ll get you out of the way out the tidal wave.”

There’s something just wrong about the fact that they’re clarifying for him, because he gets the feeling they don’t actually need to talk about their strategy anymore. “Won’t his Sharingan just be able to tell what we’re going to do?”

“Let me take care of that,” Sasuke says. “We just need to find him first. Between your clones and mine, we should be able to.”

Naruto can’t think of anything to say to that, so when his friend creates his version of a Kage Bunshin, he does the same. After all the clones scatter, Sakura says, “Don’t be too hard on him. You know it wasn’t his fault,” before leaping away, too.

As Sasuke heads up into a tree for a better view, Naruto follows, not sure what else to do. “What was she talking about?” he says, hating that he’s so far out of the loop.

“What?” Sasuke says, pressing himself against the tree to get a good look around. “Oh, that. It’s nothing. Kakashi and I just got into an argument. He’s refusing to let me even take the jounin test until I’m fifteen.”

That’s not too far away from now, but Naruto’s not getting it. Sure, Sasuke’s pretty great and all, but jounin are usually, like, actual adults. “I thought you could just go to Tsunade for that. Why’d you go to Kakashi-sensei first?”

Whether he’s exasperated or uncomfortable is hard to tell, but he says, “My ‘mental state’s been called to question too many times for me to advance without someone to confirm I can handle it,” followed by, “Found him,” before Naruto can answer.

Sasuke loops their elbows, and makes a series of seals. Next second, Naruto can’t breathe, the world’s spinning around him, and when he comes back to himself in a puff of smoke on the other side of the training field right behind Kakashi, he decides he really needs to learn how to do a Shunshin.

“Self-destructing clones,” Kakashi says. “I wasn’t expecting that one—oh, well, what could you possibly have planned now?”

But Sasuke’s completely gone, leaving Naruto facing Kakashi off alone, right out in the open, which doesn’t seem like part of the plan. With nothing else to do, he creates a Rasengan, but Kakashi’s already prepared counter it with the Raikiri. Naruto sees too late that he’s too slow, and this is why he needed to not attack from right out in the open. Before the two attacks can connect, though, Sasuke’s there, arm around his waist to tackle him out of the way, other hand releasing needles straight at Kakashi’s face.

Then comes the mist, and they’re nowhere near the water.

Despite the sudden surge of annoyance he feels at the realization that he was just used as bait, because this is too well put together to be anything other than the real plan, Naruto calls back all his clones. Kakashi takes them out quickly, and all Naruto can see through the mist is random flashes of blue, and then a burst of flames he has to dodge out of the way of. By the time the ground cracks open, he’s stopped questioning what’s going on, and just leaps out of the way, creating a new batch of clones. As annoying as it is that the best he can be is a distraction, he’s not going to risk a Rasengan when he can’t tell who’s Kakashi, and who’s Sakura or Sasuke.

A hand finds the back of Naruto’s neck, too small to be anyone other than Sakura’s. “Sasuke’s got him locked in a genjutsu fight,” she says, and he hadn’t know genjutsu could work on Kakashi. “Follow me. We can get the bells.”

She leads him through the mist, and it’s only a few short paces before the other two are actually in sight. Though they’re just shapes, the height difference makes it easy to tell who’s who. “I know this is a genjutsu, Sasuke,” Kakashi says. “It’s not going to work on me.”

“Really? Then what’s on your left?”

He turns abruptly, Chidori at the ready, but Sasuke’s actually coming from behind, and Sakura and Naruto from the right. When Naruto’s hand closes around the bells, the sense of accomplishment hits him so hard he’s surprised, but he’s even more surprised when Kakashi turns just in time, catching Sasuke by the stomach, and slamming him against the ground.

The mist fades, and the electricity around Kakashi’s hand fades out. There’s no “good job on getting the bells, guys!” like Naruto was expecting. Instead, Kakashi says, “Sakura, check out your idiot teammate,” as he stands, and sounds more pissed off than Naruto’s ever heard. “Sasuke, I don’t care if you can expel the Chidori from your body. It’s not a shield. Don’t pull a move like that again. If I hadn’t realized you weren’t a fake, you’d be dead right now.”

“It was an accident,” Sasuke says as Sakura drops down next him, stopping him from sitting up. “Sakura, stop, I’m fine.”

She ignores him. “Why did you guys lie?” Naruto asks.

After a moment of them not answering, Sasuke too busy glaring at Sakura and her too busy glaring at him while her hands glow blue over the damaged area of his stomach, Kakashi says, “I had a clone listening in. It’s not a hard thing for the Sharingan to sense.”

Suddenly, Sakura pokes right onto the injury, and laughs at Sasuke’s exclamation of pain. “Serves you right,” she says, and helps him up.

Naruto knew things were going to be different the moment he saw Sasuke’s name in the Bing Book. He just wasn’t prepared for exactly how true that was.

 

 

While Kakashi’s off talking to Tsunade, Sasuke hangs out alone with Naruto in his apartment while Sakura’s at work, escaping the early May humidity. Because his friend asks, Sasuke explains exactly what happened with Danzo, and when he’s done, Naruto says, “I’m sorry about your cousin. I know that probably wasn’t fun to find out.”

That’s an understatement. When Sasuke actually saw Shisui’s Sharingan, the feeling of repulsion went through his entire body in a way Kakashi’s never did, and he hadn’t been too happy the first time he saw that, either. “I always wondered where Itachi’s Mangekyo came from,” he says. “It looked different even before the massacre, or I would’ve just assumed it was his girlfriend’s death. Now—I don’t know. He must’ve seen Shisui die. What if Danzo murdered him?”

“You’ve been thinking this the entire time?” He nods. “Is there any way to find out?”

“I asked Sakura. She’d know,” he answers. “Said no, not after this long. I’ll just have to wait until I can ask Itachi.”

Until now, he’s just believed it was suicide, like the autopsy report said, like Madara said. But actually seeing the evidence…for Danzo to have that eye, he would’ve had to have taken it when Shisui alive and just _left_ him if it wasn’t murder. Somehow, that’s even worse.

When he asked Sakura, she hadn’t been surprised, and she hadn’t softened the answer that finding out without having to asking just wasn’t possible. He appreciates the fact that she doesn’t treat him delicately more than she knows. The only other person who doesn’t is Sai, but he doesn’t understand social cues, so that barely counts. While Naruto doesn’t really, either, he hasn’t been acting weird ever since he got back, like he doesn’t know what to do with them. In a way, Sasuke really doesn’t know what to do, either. For the past two years, he and Sakura had to fit together without Naruto.

It doesn’t help that even he’s been having some pretty awful dreams ever since the incident with Danzo. To avoid suspicion as a kid, he made this his only reality as much as he possibly could, but killing Orochimaru and proving his brother innocent managed to act as a bad reminder that he was only able to do this because he knew what to look for, and they were still largely selfish actions.  There are other issues, too, like how attached he’s gotten to Sakura, and how she’s back to the age she was when he last saw her. But at the same time, he’s _younger_ than her, and they aren’t kids anymore. Or maybe they are, but he’s not sure what he’s supposed to be, because he has two sets of memories. Depending on how he’s feeling, one set of memories will be stronger than the other. The less depressed he is, the more likely he is to just be Sasuke, Konoha chuunin, rather than Sasuke, the time traveler who once killed his brother and ran away from home without knowing what he was getting himself into.

Considering how anxious he is right now to find out what Tsunade says, he’s not even sure what he’s feeling. It’s almost like he’s both at once, which is making this more confusing than it should. On one hand, he really wants to be here with his friend, and also really wants Sakura, who’s older than him and who he’s definitely too comfortable with; on the other, he feels like they deserve better. Like Itachi deserves better. Like he’s over thinking this, and his current thought process doesn’t make sense, and this is nothing like him.

Yes, it’s all very confusing, and he just wants it to go away.

Naruto’s foot collides with his. “Hey,” he says when Sasuke looks up. “What’s wrong?”

Whatever’s going on with him isn’t supposed to be going with him, but he isn’t supposed to be able to remember willingly going with the Oto-nin but also freezing up during the same fight because of a flashback. “Nothing,” he lies, hoping his friend doesn’t notice. “I’m fine.”

This isn’t the first time his thoughts have completely left the track of the conversation, and it’s probably bad, but Sakura’s become his way of straightening everything out. It’s why he’s ended up at her house so often, because she’s something constant and _there._ He knows her because he knows her, not because anyone explained her to him. The Senju, the Uchiha, the Kyuubi—even Naruto got a story. For all the memories that come in twos, she’s the easiest to separate.

“If you say so,” Naruto says, and in another life, Sasuke liked Sakura a lot.

Apparently that’s one thing that managed to carry over.

 

 

Somehow, Kakashi does manage to convince Tsunade to let Sasuke join the search for Itachi as a chuunin. The same can’t be said for the search for the manhunt for Danzo, but Sakura’s privately relieved about that. Unfortunately, neither search is going all that well. In the meantime, there’s a scramble to look for a way to remove the cursed seal on the Root members’ tongues, which Sai basically offers himself up as a test subject for, causing him to spend a lot more time around Team Kakashi as a result.

He’s still way too abrasive, and doesn’t really understand human interaction, but Sakura doesn’t feel the same animosity to him as she used to now that he’s helped them out at the risk of his own life and loyalties. The more time he seems to spend around Naruto, too, she’s noticed, the more he seems to be changing. It’s interesting, really. She wonders what Sasuke would say about that, if he were here.

Currently, he and Kakashi are gone again, off somewhere he (very apologetically) wasn’t allowed to say, and the remains of Team Kakashi are hanging out in one of Konoha’s parks. “So what’re you into?” Naruto asks Sai, already more welcoming than she and Sasuke have been for the past two years. They haven’t been the most open lately, something she was forced to acknowledge after that disastrous bell test.

“Into?” Sai says. “What do you mean?”

“You know, like hobbies, I guess,” Naruto answers. “Like Kakashi-sensei’s into reading, Sakura does quiz books. That kind of thing.”

The confusion gone now, Sai says, “I draw.”

“His artwork’s amazing,” Sakura says, because it is, and she feels like she owes him a compliment after everything he’s done. “He’s learned to weaponized it, too.”

With a grin, Naruto says, “That’s awesome. Wish I could draw. The best I can do doodle.”

Considering who he’s spent the past two years with, Sakura decides not to ask exactly what he’s been doodling. “What do you like to do?” Sai asks, and she’s never heard him reciprocate in a conversation in all the time they’ve known each other.

They stop in front of the river, leaning against the bridge railing. “I used to like pranks a lot,” Naruto says. “It was fun, ‘cause I forced Sasuke help, and he was so uptight about making sure we weren’t caught. Now? I guess just training. I needed something to do when Jiraiya-sensei was off ‘researching.’ Are you still into trivia games?”

She nods. “Can’t do them as often as I used to, though,” she says. “Between Tsunade-sama’s training, the hospital, and missions, I just don’t have the time. Sasuke’s hobbies still include being disgruntled over everyone’s opinion of him, and pretending he has any idea what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?” Naruto says. “When’s Sasuke ever cared what people think?”

Oh, right. Though he was here to hear about it, he missed the whole probation month, and the aftermath. But for Sakura, it’s been two years. Before she can answer, Sai says, “He’s been very close to psychological evaluation on more than one occurrence. What do you mean by ‘researching?’”

“Uh, Jiraiya-sensei writes the _Icha, Icha_ series,” Naruto answers, “so he has a habit of…honestly, I stopped asking, so I don’t even know. Isn’t Sasuke off probation now? I mean, I get people were worried after that panic attack, but he seems fine.”

“Isn’t Jiraiya the legendary sannin?” Sai says. “And he writes _porn?_ ”

This is also the first time she’s ever heard him sound so scandalized. Apparently even people who’ve had their emotions destroyed by obsessive village elders can be horrified by finding out living legends are secretly perverts. “I had the same reaction,” she says, patting his shoulder in sympathy. “People are just being overdramatic, Naruto. Sasuke’s the same as he’s always been. It’s just that now he’s made enough of his name for himself for people to notice. The panic attack didn’t help, though.”

Sai, completely not helping, either, says, “I thought it was his tendency to put himself deliberately in harm’s way.”

Talking about Sasuke when she doesn’t even know where he is isn’t making her feel any better. “Like I said,” she says quickly. “Same as he’s always been. Anyway, Naruto, my mom wants you over for dinner. As in, she’s making you favorite. Sai, you’re welcome to come.”

Inviting Sai over isn’t something she thought she’d do, but she can’t just exclude him now that she’s already ordered Naruto to come. “I have nothing conflicting in my schedule,” Sai says. “I can spare a couple of hours.”

Suddenly, the thought of exactly how badly she wants Sasuke here hits _hard_ , and what hits harder is the knowledge that she doesn’t want things to change. But when Itachi comes home, they’re going to, and they already are, and that’s more frightening than she thought it would be.

Well, she thinks. It’s about time she did something about that, then.  

 

 

Sasuke’s separated from the rest of the group, having managed to get himself thrown off a cliff during a fight with Kisame, when he finally comes across his brother in the Lightning Country. “I don’t like your partner,” he says as he pulls himself to his feet, using the cliff side as support. His head’s spinning, and though Kisame absorbed the majority of his chakra, there was just enough to channel into his feet, and stick to the rocks the right amount to slow his fall. If it weren’t for that, he’d be dead. “Oh, and hi.”

As Itachi reaches out for him, Sasuke’s expecting another incident like the hotel two years back, but all his brother does is check his wrist. “You fractured it,” he says when Sasuke flinches, eyes narrowing. “This is Kumo-nin territory in the middle of nowhere. Which one of us did Konoha send you after?”

“Taking out your partner would be a good bonus,” he answers, not caring if his brother actually likes Kisame and finds this offensive, “but we’re not here to kill anyone. We’re taking you home. Danzo’s on the run. I exposed him. Your contract was the final evidence we needed, and we found that in Root.”

Itachi doesn’t do anything right away, and Sasuke gives him a moment to gather his thoughts. Eventually, he says, “You could have gotten yourself killed,” and Sasuke’s so used to hearing this that it doesn’t bother him anymore.

Far above them, he can still hear the others fighting, and he hopes they can keep it up long enough to give him time to convince his brother to come home. “I exposed him while he was trying to use genjutsu on the Hokage,” he says. “It had nothing to do with our family. I was about as safe as I could get. But, anyway, you’ve gotten a full pardon since the contract proved both the massacre and your involvement with the Akatsuki were done with Konoha’s best interests in mind.”

In light of the situation, Itachi’s been labeled Konoha’s new Tragic Hero. He’ll have to go through questioning, sure, but people will have no trouble accepting him back. “If you read the contract, then you know about the arrangement,” Itachi says. “If I leave the Akatsuki, then Konoha is open for attack.”

“You’re going blind,” Sasuke says. “I know because I’d be too if it weren’t for Sakura. How long before that gets you killed on a mission? Konoha’s open for attack anyway. We have Naruto. I don’t know what the Akatsuki wants him for, but are you really enough to keep them away from what they want?”

Of course, Itachi doesn’t have an answer to that, because there isn’t one. Sasuke’s already thought through this conversation a hundred times. “But I’m not supposed to be able to return,” Itachi says, somewhere between hopefully, and horrified, and flat.

“I have a girl who’s going to kill me when she sees me like this,” he says, “and my best friend just got back. I wouldn’t have gotten myself pushed off a cliff if I didn’t have a promise to keep.”

“But after everything I’ve—how could you—”

Sakura once said a hug was the most efficient way to shut him up. When Sasuke applies the same tactic to his brother, wrapping his arms around him, Itachi quiets. “I don’t care,” Sasuke says. “Can I have my brother back now?”

For Itachi, it’s been seven years since they had each other, but for Sasuke, it’s been fourteen. “I suppose we could try,” Itachi answers, and when he wraps his arms around him, too, Sasuke thinks it says a lot about him that he’s surprised not to receive a kunai in his back.

 

 

Despite the nature of the mission, getting Sasuke along had been surprisingly easy. Tsunade was already debating on sending him, since he was more likely to convince Itachi than anyone else, and she’d wanted just a small party. It ended being the two of them, and Asuma, because everyone else is concentrated on trying to find a way to undo cursed seals before Danzo has the chance to activate all of them, if that’s what he intends. The small party ends up being an advantage, though, because Itachi might be Sasuke’s older brother, but Kakashi’s the one who knows how to deal with the kid.

In the very beginning, he thought of Sasuke as just a Uchiha, but it hadn’t taken long for that to stop being the case. As the sort of unofficial leader of his friends, he never really fit into the expected personality of a little brother, either, which is interesting, considering his age. Kakashi assumed he would see at least some of it once Sasuke was reunited with Itachi, but if anything, he just seems sort of wary. As understandable as it is, it’s not terribly noticeable, either, and having just four people in one group means it isn’t difficult for him to stay by Kakashi’s side, because there’s no one else trying to compete for the attention, really.

At least he’s not resistant to the idea of sleeping, or maybe that’s just because he’s so banged up he doesn’t have the luxury. When Kakashi takes first watch on the third night, he’s not surprised by Itachi’s attempt to talk. “Kakashi,” he says, awkward, sitting across from him on the forest floor, “what’s going to happen to me?”

Kakashi looks to the side, to Sasuke, curled up on his sleeping roll with his fractured wrist bound in a makeshift brace and resting next to his head. If this goes badly, it’s going to kill him. “Well,” Kakashi says, crossing his arms and settling back more comfortably against the rock he’s using as a back rest, “you’ve been given a full pardon, but you’ll still need to be questioned. It won’t be anything like what we used to see in ANBU, but Konoha wants to make sure they’re making the right call, and you haven’t switched loyalties to the Akatsuki, which they’ll want intel on, too. While that’s all going on, Sasuke’ll look for an apartment for the two of you, since you won’t be allowed to live on your own in the beginning, and he’s an full-fledged Konoha-nin. Or at least I think, your familial relation might make that arrangement null and void, but I doubt it. Either Tsunade or Sakura will fix your eyes at some point, that’s what they do for him. You’re only twenty-one, so you’ll probably be reinstated if you want eventually, but expect a break. Any questions?”

The potential barring of the two of them living together has nothing to do with the fact that they’re related, really; Sasuke might not have been questioned on anything in a while, but that probation is still on record, and a lot of the evidence _was_ obtained with questionable legality, after all. Itachi seems to buy it, though, because he says, “That’s about what I expected. I’ll tell them what they want to know, though I’m afraid I was never told everything. No one was, in case of defection, which does happen. Orochimaru was one of them.” He pauses, looks to his brother, and adds, “I’m surprised we won’t be sent home. Konoha never did like wasting their space.”

No hidden village does because of the walls, but all the renovations after the chuunin exam invasions mean there are actually a lot of new apartments. “Sasuke didn’t mention that he hasn’t been home in over two years?” Kakashi says, and Itachi shakes his head. “When Orochimaru was after him, everyone decided it wasn’t safe for him to live alone, and he ended up with me. The Hokage and I decided a while later that he was better off there anyway, so no, for Sasuke’s sake, he’ll find somewhere else.”

Just because Itachi’s suddenly the village hero doesn’t mean Sasuke matters any less. For Kakashi, he’s always going to be priority, and if he’s honest with himself, he’s a little worried over the idea of the kid leaving. “Is there anything I need to know?” Itachi asks.

“He’s barely around, though that’ll probably change,” Kakashi answers, and for as much as Sasuke reminds him of himself sometimes, this is a point they seriously deviate on. At no point in his life was Kakashi comfortable sharing his bed with someone, even now. “There’s a girl. It’s not what you think. He’ll go days not sleeping, then have others where he has trouble getting out of bed. Anxiety attacks and nightmares aren’t common, but they happen. It’s all right, though. Sakura’s usually around, and she can calm him down.”

Itachi’s face has gone pale, which is more emotion than Kakashi was expecting. “Will he be comfortable living with me?” he says, presumably realizing that a good portion of this is all his fault.

“Considering that he spent the past seven years of his life trying to prove that you’re innocent,” Kakashi says, “then yes, I’m guessing he will. But Itachi, a lot of people know about the Tsukuyomi you used on him. If you hurt him again, you’re dead. Understand?”

Between the Konoha Jinchuruki, the Hokage’s apprentice, Kakashi himself, and a number of others, even Itachi wouldn’t have much hope of surviving. Sasuke might be an easily panicked brat, but he’s a powerful, incredibly intelligent, easily panicked brat, which makes for a good combination to be one of the most likeable teenagers in Konoha. Combine that exposing a conspiracy, killing Orochimaru, and being involved in a tragedy, and that’s why Kakashi refuses to back him up for the jounin test. He’d get permission in a heartbeat.

On the more beneficial side, he’s also very protected.

With a sad smile, Itachi glances to his brother, and says, “Never again. You have my word.”

That doesn’t necessarily make Kakashi believe him anymore, but he’s willing to give Itachi the benefit of the doubt for now. For Sasuke’s sake, he just hopes this all works out.

 

 

If everything goes right, questioning will take three days. With Naruto and Sakura’s help, Sasuke looks for an apartment, and isn’t sure if he’s nervous, or excited. Hopefully he’s right in thinking the Akatsuki won’t attack Konoha until they need the Kyuubi, which will come last as they’ll go in order of the tails, but Madara’s going to pissed. Then again, now Tsunade’s going to have a forewarning, which’ll help, and maybe she’ll even have the time to pass on the news to Suna in time to save Gaara. Stopping the Akatsuki from getting their first Jinchuruki will cause a definite problem, and maybe Sasuke can save the world before he turns fifteen.

They end up deciding on an apartment not far Naruto’s, and Sakura’s parents donate the futon in the guest room while Kakashi does the same. Both of them also have extra pots and pans they give over, and takeout chopsticks from Ichiraku might be cheap, but they’re good enough for a three day decision. A quick search in a secondhand store, and Sasuke manages to get a smallish table, and two bowls and plates for the price of pay from one of his C-rank missions, which is also the price of his rent (and set grocery budget). He gets Itachi’s clothing sizes from Tsunade, who finds his illness on the first day, and Sakura takes care of that while Sasuke factors in payments for his brother’s medical care, which need to continue twice a month for half a year.

Overall, it’s expensive, but Sasuke doesn’t eat much, and after six months, it’ll drop significantly. Supposedly, how often he’s sent out won’t change, and he’s fifteen in a month and a half. As long as he keeps his head, this is a good excuse to advance. Now all he has to worry about is Itachi finding out that supposed training when Sasuke was little, since he’s going to distinctly remember _not_ doing it.

When Sasuke finally gets an idea on how to deal with that, it’s so mean he almost decides not to. Then he remembers exactly how badly he doesn’t want to end up in I&T for being so amazingly skilled, and thinks that maybe he can do it after all.

Around five on the third day, which is also known as the last one before his brother’s released, everything’s done, and Sasuke decides that this is nerves, not anything else. What if Itachi realizes he’s lying? What if Itachi doesn’t like him anymore? What if Tsunade’s wrong, and he can’t be healed, and Sasuke loses him anyway right after getting him back?

Well, whatever happens, he’ll deal with it when it comes. If there’s one thing he’s learned by now, it’s how to adapt, and he knows it’s a skill he’s going to need to get through this.

 

 

 Though admittedly not everything about the Akatsuki was terrible, and he quite liked Kisame, Itachi did have a very small, barely acknowledged part of himself that hoped the day would come where he would be able to come home ever since he found out his brother didn’t want to kill him. Now he is, and he isn’t entirely sure what he’s supposed to do with himself. Even if he didn’t need to be monitored for potential changes in loyalty, he wouldn’t be allowed to be reinstated until after Tsunade finished treatment (he’s even going to live!). There are still many problems that remain, of course, but the biggest is that while Sasuke still seems to know and understand him, Itachi can’t figure out his little brother.

He’d been thirteen when he followed through with orders, killing his own family, and leaving Sasuke alone, and Itachi had just done what he thought was best when he realized his brother had seen Madara, too. Sasuke had always been a quiet kid, very kind but very sensitive, and prone even at a young age to severe self-disappointment issues. Suicide was not uncommon in the Uchiha family; Itachi thought giving Sasuke a goal would keep him from meeting a similar fate. Years ago, though, Itachi realized he hadn’t been nearly as competent as thought, and now he’s beginning to understand his actions had unforeseen repercussions. Kakashi tried to tell him on the journey home, and then again the Godaime in the hospital before his official release back into the Konoha life, but it takes Itachi a while to find out what could possibly be bad enough to warrant a warning from the Hokage.

For the first few days, they just dance around each other, both too wary to be the one to open conversation, until Uzumaki Naruto makes a stray comment about how he did just such a good job training Sasuke when they were young. Itachi nearly has a heart attack on the spot, but waits until the other two young members of Team Seven leave before asking, “Sasuke, what did your friend mean?”

Sasuke looks up from the freshly laundered shirt he’s folding. A drastic change from childhood is his clothing, all of which are civilian store-bought, and don’t hold the Uchiha emblem anymore. “What?” he says. “Oh, Naruto? Which part?”

“About me training you,” Itachi says, uncertain how to word it. “I didn’t.”

Clearly confused, Sasuke says, “Yes, you did. I remember you training me.”

As Itachi made it a point _not_ to, hoping to give his brother a longer childhood, he thinks it’s safe to say that no, he really didn’t. “I taught you how to properly throw kunai and shuriken,” he says, “but I never had time for much else.”

“You taught me chakra control too, remember?” Sasuke says, and now Itachi’s the one who’s confused. “I learned how to walk up trees and on water from you. And the Kanton jutsu. I couldn’t get it on the first try, and—”

“Our father showed you the Kanton jutsu.” Sasuke blinks, lowering the shirt. “You nearly killed yourself trying to learn it yourself. And no one ever showed you chakra control.”

“Itachi, I _remember_ you teaching me,” he says. “Besides, I was too much of a disappointment for anyone else to.”

Why would he possibly he remember things that never happened? Of course, he was always much smarter than many people gave him credit for, but most of Itachi’s best memories have to do with Sasuke, so training him in a skill as difficult as walking on water is something he wouldn’t be likely to forget. And then there’s the Kanton jutsu, which Itachi knows for a fact their father showed—

Oh. Maybe his brother is more intelligent than even he realized when they were children. “By training,” he says, “do you mean having me talk you through it, or just showing you?”

Sasuke’s nose scrunches in confusion, and at least his facial expressions are the same, though the occasional scowl is new. “You showed me,” he says. “Who outside of the Academy actually talks people through a lesson?”

As a child, Itachi was known for learning things from just observing a few times, but until he mastered the Sharingan for the first time, he was at least intentionally shown whatever he was being taught. More than once, though, he’d walk over the lake or up a tree to retrieve a stray weapon during target practice for his brother. Outside of the Kanton jutsu, no one else in the family bothered to show Sasuke anything, so it’s not as though he had to opportunity to pick it up from them. This means that even without the Sharingan, he accidentally learned things through just watching Itachi do them, which everyone said Sasuke couldn’t do.

Though, that still doesn’t explain his change in memory with the Kanton jutsu. Except, there _is_ another explanation for that. “Did you practice these while I was away on missions?” Itachi asks.

“There was nothing else to do,” Sasuke answers. “Training was the best excuse I had to get out of algebra lessons. You really don’t remember?”

On the journey here, Kakashi hadn’t been shy in implying every complication Sasuke’s suffered is Itachi’s fault. Until now, they’ve been too awkward around each other to mention anything past Sasuke saying he didn’t blame Itachi for anything. “I remember doing many of those things in front of you,” he says, “but our father is the one who taught—showed—you the Kanton jutsu. You told me that the Tsukuyomi didn’t work. Was that an immediate reaction, or did it take some time for your memory to come back?”

Sasuke looks away. “It took a few months,” he answers. “Why?”

From his slight frown, Itachi knows his brother is taking this as a personal failing. He must not realize exactly how strong his Sharingan was even back then; breaking the effects of a Tsukuyomi on his own isn’t supposed to be possible. “I think,” Itachi says, “that in resisting the Tsukuyomi, you may have affected a few childhood memories in the process. You were seven. There were only so many effects it could have had.”

Before Sasuke can answer, someone knocks on the door. “I’ll get that,” he says, expression leaving his face more efficiently than it ever did when he was younger, and Itachi just nods, because there’s not much else to do.

It’s the Sakura girl, unsurprisingly, cheeks flushed from the late June heat. “Sorry, I know it’s been like a week,” she says, smile on her face despite the apology, “but Sasuke, we have a mission. In Suna. We’ve been specially requested by Temari. Hi, Itachi.”

No, he thinks. She’s much too cheerful for it to be the kidnapping of the Kazekage, and it’s too early for that anyway. “What is it?” Sasuke asks, back straightening, and running off to his room to get his emergency pack. Louder, he adds, “Do they need me, or you?”

“You make it sound like Temari was specific,” she answers with a laugh. “It’s Suna, though, so probably you. You know how excited they’re going to be to see Naruto?”

“Do they know yet?”

“Yeah, I told Temari in our last letter exchange.”

Sasuke emerges, tan pack carelessly thrown over one shoulder, forehead protector tied around his head. “But you’re Konoha-nin,” Itachi says, trying to sort this out, because this is the second time today he’s been caught off guard. “Why does Suna want you for a mission?”

With a slight smile towards his teammate, Sasuke says, “Because Sakura’s the best medic there is outside of the Hokage, who can’t leave the village.”

“And,” she says, lightly touching his arm, “your brother is _great_ at getting information. We’ll probably be paired with Gaara’s siblings for whatever the mission is. Ready, Sasuke-kun?”

He glances back at Itachi, who’s still trying to get over that they’re referring to the Kazekage by his given name, which they already do with the Hokage. Even he didn’t have this many connections when he was younger. “Almost,” Sasuke answers. “I’ll be there in a second. I’m sure you can manage to get Naruto on your own.”

“He’s probably eating ramen right now. You make it sound like it’s easy.”

After she leaves, he turns back to Itachi. “I’ll be back in about a week, probably,” he says. “Gaara usually doesn’t keep more than a few days. No one in Suna likes biting their pride long enough to get foreign help.”

When Itachi was a Konoha-nin, Suna was so closed off they’d never even consider it. “The Kazekage is a Jinchuruki. Did you know that?” he says, and Sasuke nods. “Well, the time doesn’t match, but if this mission involves the Akatsuki—just be careful.”

“I’ll have Kakashi with me,” he says. “You don’t need to worry.”

As last time they were together, Sasuke managed to end up at the bottom of a ravine, this doesn’t make Itachi too reassured. “Right,” he says. “I’ll see you in a week.”

At the door, Sasuke pauses, and half-turns, to say, “Can you…not tell anyone about our talk? Enough people think I’m unstable already without verification.”

“I—you have my word.” Itachi hadn’t known he could feel any guiltier. “Stay safe, Sasuke.”

With a mumbled goodbye, Sasuke leaves. Once the door is shut, and Itachi’s alone in the apartment, he realizes this is their childhood reversed. For the first time, he thinks he might understand how Sasuke felt, because there’s something particularly horrible about not knowing whether or not his brother will return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really, one of the most efficient ways to lie to someone is to get them to make up the lie themselves by confusing them. Also, I'm pretty sure the closest thing Sasuke has to a healthy relationship right now is his one with Kakashi.


	12. chapter xi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara's kidnapped, and a lot of personal questions are asked.

Suna received the warning about the Akatsuki, delivered by Team Gai, the day after Gaara was kidnapped, so they weren’t prepared for Deidara’s attack. Sakura heals Kankuro, leaving everyone with at least some hope that the Kazekage can be saved, and Sasuke’s angry with himself in the knowledge that Gaara will survive, but the Akatsuki will still get what they want.

Before they leave, Temari hugs both Sakura and Sasuke, and tells them to get her brother back alive. “We’ve do everything we can,” Sakura says. “Just focus on Kankuro, and protecting the village.”

Last time, Sasuke was spending this time killing Orochimaru, or at least planning to, but either way, everything he knows about this is just rumors. He’d much rather have Temari come along than an old woman, though, especially one that keeps glaring at his and Kakashi’s backs like she’s waiting for them to kill everyone. Apparently being Hatake Sakumo’s  son is causing Kakashi some problems, but not nearly as many problems as Sasuke’s facing as Uchiha Itachi’s kid brother. Until now, he honestly thought Little Uchiha was a joke.

“How are people saying that with a straight face?” Naruto says as they exit the gate. “It makes you sound like an Academy student.”

With a laugh, Sakura says, “I know, isn’t it cute?”

“No, it’s not,” Sasuke says, frustrated. Even though he and Sakura are just chuunin, being genuine friends with the Kazekage and his siblings, specifically Temari, mean that they’re requested for most joint Suna-Konoha missions. This is the first time he’s ever been referred to as anything other than just Sasuke. “This is only because I’m getting blamed for the attack.”

They aren’t wrong, either. Convincing Itachi to come home had the unforeseen consequence of the Akatsuki speeding up their plans. As the same warning went out to every other hidden village with even a suspected Jinchuruki, hopefully this isn’t an incident that’ll be repeated, but Sasuke doesn’t like the idea of Madara getting his hands on even one. At least it seems like they’re going in order. If they came directly after Naruto, Sasuke doesn’t know what he’d do.

The old woman’s glare intensifies, and he has to bite his tongue to avoid pointing out that he’s not the only one here with familial ties to the Akatsuki. “We’ll get Gaara back,” Sakura says, “and everything will blow over. It’s not like this wouldn’t have happened eventually without getting the information.”

“I felt a bad chill the night before,” Gai says, and the whole team seems pretty angry with themselves, too. “I should have trusted my instincts and not stopped for rest. We are still young enough that we may forego a night of sleep.”

“You’re all Konoha-nin,” the old woman says. “What makes you so invested in saving the Kazekage?”

Maybe if Team Gai weren’t here, Naruto would ignore Tsunade’s warning from years ago, and explain about being a Jinchuruki, but for now, he keeps his mouth shut. “These three are the ones who fought off Gaara during the invasion two years ago,” Kakashi says, nodding towards them. “They’ve been friends since. Consider it a personal investment.”

If events change, if Gaara really dies—well, it turns out tricking Temari that day in the woods had enough of an effect that Sasuke might be able to keep his head in better in this case than if it were Naruto, but that doesn’t mean he’ll forgive himself if something goes wrong. Suna-Konoha relations will fall to pieces, too. He doesn’t know which Akatsuki members are involved outside of Deidara, who Sasuke’s already killed once, and Sasori, the one with the puppets. He’ll have to think of another way out of self-destruction other than summoning, but he wouldn’t mind getting rid of as many of the Akatsuki as he can now.

Itachi can forgive him later if he liked any of them.

Though the woman doesn’t seem to trust them any more than before, she doesn’t question them again. Sasuke drops away from Kakashi, falling into step with Sakura as Naruto shoots ahead in a burst of anger-caused adrenaline. If Gaara dies, Sasuke knows Naruto will end up blaming him, too, and he doesn’t know if he can handle with that.

 

 

Team Gai takes the seals to open the border, and the last thing Sasuke wants to do is leave Sakura alone with a woman who hates all of them, and Sasori. But Deidara’s taking Gaara away, Kakashi and Naruto are pursuing, and Sasuke only has a second to make a decision. “Go,” Sakura says. “I’ll catch up to you. I promise.”

He’d like a better reassurance than that. Even so, the others are getting away, and he knows how to kill Deidara.

She lived last time, she’ll live again, but he still thinks he’s making a huge mistake when he turns to follow Gaara, instead.

 

 

Despite Deidara’s prosthetic left eye specially made to counter genjutsu, Sasuke’s Mangekyo Sharingan is strong enough to trick him with simpler techniques, similar to Kakashi or Danzo.  With Naruto focusing on just getting Gaara away safely, Sasuke and Kakashi can turn their attention to killing Deidara.

By using the walls of the ravine, and channeling chakra into his feet, Sasuke’s able to get himself onto Deidara’s clay bird while Kakashi takes care of the dropped explosives from below. “I’m getting real sick of those eyes,” Deidara says, taking a good look at the Sharingan, and Sasuke’s already working on slowing the way he perceives events. “Your brother couldn’t kill me. You won’t be able to, either.”

Deidara’s hand’s out, ready to expel more clay, and it really is dangerous standing on a giant explosive, but few things are faster than lightning. All it takes is one shove downwards with a lengthened Chidori, and the bird’s deactivated. It’s hold on Gaara loosens, giving Naruto time to catch him, but there’s nothing Sasuke can do with the height he and Deidara are falling from except hope for the best.

Unfortunately, Deidara has more clay than Sasuke anticipated, and creates a smaller version of the bird. Sasuke moves, leaving an after image of himself through the Sharingan as he comes up behind his opponent before he has the chance to make the switch. One hit from the chokuto, though, and the genjutsu’s broken; Sasuke, mid-attack, isn’t able to change position to avoid an explosion. In the same moment, he creates a full body Chidori, which might not be in enough time nullify the clay’s destructive properties, but is enough to prove Kakashi wrong. Apparently it can act as a repellent, if not a shield, because somehow, he manages not to die right away.

As if falling from a cliff isn’t enough, now Sasuke’s falling from a giant bird, and Deidara’s getting away. For a moment, he really thinks he’s about to die like this, because he doesn’t think Susanoo is going to work in midair.

Instead of the ground, Sasuke lands on something soft and slimy at a relatively safe distance, and realizes it’s  one of the frogs. It goes off on Naruto immediately for getting summoned for something as pathetically simple as a way to stop someone from dying, but still rolls Sasuke off gently enough. Gaara’s there next to Naruto, pale with his chest barely rising, and Kakashi’s gone.

“Sasuke, he said to wait and protect,” Naruto starts, but Kakashi doesn’t know about the self-destruction, and one of his nin-dogs isn’t going to be useful as a snake.

Somehow, he managed to get Deidara off again, back to the ground, which makes them easy to catch up with. “Is there any use in telling you to go back?” Kakashi asks when Sasuke makes it level it with him.

If it weren’t for Gaara, Naruto would be right here, too, and Sasuke isn’t the only one on Team Kakashi who has trouble following orders. He’s just treated like he is. “No,” he answers, and throws a volley of Chidori needs, disabling the clay explosives. “How did you get him down this fast?”

“You aren’t the only with your share of lightning attacks,” Kakashi says. Deidara must be running out of clay by now. There’s not much time left. “Do you have enough chakra?”

“I should,” Sasuke says, and they split, him going right while Kakashi takes the left. Fighting one lighting user must be hard enough. Fighting two after taking out Gaara means Deidara needs to be completely exhausted by this point.

He releases a sudden burst of clay not unlike Gaara’s shield, and Sasuke treats it the same way, piercing right through it until he feels the Chidori collide. Whatever Kakashi does from the opposite side, though, does the greater damage, crumbling the clay with the force of an electric burst, and when it falls, Deidara’s standing there with a hole in his stomach from Kakashi, and his arm rendered immobile from Sasuke. The prosthetic broke at some point, shattered and dangling from Deidara’s face, and Sasuke’s suddenly, acutely aware of the burns and other damage covering his right side.

There’s no grand declaration about art, or how his time’s up. When he starts to expand and grow, though, Kakashi runs, shouting for Sasuke to do the same, but he just ignores him. Self-destruction does cause at least some delay, and in the little time he has, he catches up with Kakashi instead, and summons Susanoo, the closest thing to protection he has.

Even Susanoo can’t protect them from the heat, which even without the blast is enough to hurt, but it saves their lives. Sasuke shuts his eyes to protect himself from the light, and Susanoo fades on its own once the flash still visible through his eyelids fades.

“Well,” Kakashi says as Sasuke opens them again, and his vision slides out of focus, “that wasn’t something I thought would happen today.”

Kakashi supports him on the walk back, not adding anything else. Maybe everyone has a point when they say Sasuke has a problem with putting himself in harm’s way, because he has a feeling that he can only tempt fate so many times before he ends up dead.

 

 

Some point between Kakashi and Sasuke leaving, and coming back, Gaara stopped breathing. Naruto was preparing himself for the reality that he’d have to say goodbye forever, before they even had the chance to really talk, apparently, when Chiyo came along and healed Gaara at the expense of her own life. By the time Kakashi and Sasuke returned, there’s an entire crowd of Suna-nin, Sakura, Naruto, a very alive Gaara, and an old woman’s corpse everyone was mostly ignoring.

That was hours ago, and now they’re back in Suna, dealing with the fallout. Though he lost his status as Jinchuruki, Gaara’s staying Kazekage, and there’s probably a lot he needs to take care of on the political level, but he’s just sitting at a table talking to Naruto like it’s an ordinary night. Most of Suna’s poured out onto the streets, organizing a makeshift festival despite at least half already wearing pajamas, while Temari and Kankuro deal with everything. Kakashi’s talking to Gai, whose team’s sticking to themselves, leaving Sakura and Sasuke alone.

She pulls him off to the room he’s staying in with Naruto, and finally heals his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she says, hand shaking as she places it over his face. “I wasn’t thinking, I just saw the burn and completely forgot, and then you didn’t say anything, and you really need to learn to start saying when something’s bothering you.”

While everyone was getting over the shock that Gaara came back to life, she healed him and Kakashi, but she was so exhausted by that point, he figured his eyes could wait. He hadn’t anticipated nearly walking into a lamp post the moment he entered the village, and then Kakashi tattling. “I was going to tell you in the morning,” he says, but lets her do it anyway, knowing the consequences will be worse if he tries to stop her.

“Don’t, don’t you _ever_ ,” she says, and takes a deep breath. He realizes, with a stab of guilt, that she’s trying not to cry. “I got there, but the two of you were gone, and then there was this huge explosion, and I—Sasuke, I thought you were dead.”

Then she really is crying, dropping her hand to wipe away her tears. It never occurred to him that everyone else could see Deidara die. “You really—?” he says, blinking as his sight realigns itself and she shifts into focus. Her shirt’s torn and bloody, but the skin revealed underneath fine, with her hair sticking up at an odd angle on one side, and a smudge of dirt across her left cheek. “Hey, I’m safe. I’m not going to die that easily.”

“No,” she says, fists clenching at her sides. “You don’t understand. I came from killing a _puppet_ , from getting myself stabbed through and poisoned and thinking you were going to have to be one to find me, and found you and Kakashi missing, with Naruto having _no_ idea where you were, and Gaara was dead. And there was that explosion, and it was so powerful we could _feel_ it from we were, but it looked so _close_ , and then you were back way too long after, and there blood everywhere, and my first thought was ‘oh, he’s alive!’ It was ‘I don’t think I can save him.’ You stupid, suicidal—”

She cuts herself off, collapsing onto the bed next to him. “If you died, Sasuke,” she says, hands curling up in her lap. “No. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

He waits until she’s finished before putting his arm around her shoulders, and doesn’t complain when she leans into him. “I’m sorry,” he says again. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It doesn’t matter if you didn’t mean to,” she says, sniffling. “You did.”

When he left her, he’d been terrified she was going to die, too. No matter what she thinks, he knows exactly how she feels. “I know,” he says, because he can’t promise it’ll never happen again.

Outside, the party continues, but they stay in the room, quiet except for the sound of their breathing.

 

 

Before leaving Suna, Temari gave Sakura some friendly, girl to girl advice, and on the way back, she finally decides to take it. Tenten, who was there to hear it, gives Sakura a thumbs up as she drags Sasuke away from the group. “There’s something I want to ask you,” she says, gathering her courage. “Can I?”

“Yes?” he says, like it’s a question. “Did I do something else?”

Shaking her head, she says, “No, it’s not that. Just, do you want to go somewhere when we get back? As in a date, I mean.”

There’s such a long pause that she thinks Temari was wrong in her statement that the only person more blind than Sakura is Sasuke, because it’s obvious that she isn’t the _only_ one with feelings. Then Sasuke says, “Okay,” and Sakura feels like she can breathe for the first time since she made up her mind about asking.

So, she’s scored a date with Uchiha Sasuke.

Now all she has to do is figure what that actually means.

 

 

People have two minds about him, Itachi finds, and he doesn’t particularly like either option.

For some, he’s become a tragic hero in need of sympathy, as though he’s suddenly absolved from all he’s done because of a piece of paper. For others, he’s little more than a plant from the Akatsuki. Though is just as inaccurate, he’s much more deserving of their looks of suspicion and thinly disguised disgust than anything resembling pity. Regardless of which one he has to face, it makes leaving very difficult, and he spends most of his time in the apartment. It would help if so many people didn’t recognize him on sight, of course, but that’s not the case. There are people he doesn’t remember meeting who know he is at a quick glance, and as his clothing is civilian store bought, he spends a long time confused as to how.

That is, until one of his neighbors, some girl of about fifteen or sixteen with a shy smile, says, “Oh, you’re Sasuke-kun’s brother, right?” and Itachi realizes he’s so recognizable because he looks like Sasuke. It’s a just another reversal from their childhood.

His brother comes home later that day, surprisingly clean for having just returned from a week long mission. “Hey,” he says, slipping off his shoes. “How was your week?”

Over the past seven years, Itachi really hasn’t had anyone to ask a question like that, and when they were younger, Sasuke was usually the one in the position of having to answer. “Good,” Itachi answers cautiously as his brother walks past to drop his pack off in his room. “How was the mission?”

Sasuke waits until he reemerges before saying anything. His forehead protector is off, and as he stands there, avoiding looking anywhere in specific and playing with the hem of his shirt in an effort just to keep his hands occupied, Itachi finally sees the little brother he grew up with. “About that,” Sasuke says. “It turns out it was the Akatsuki, who kidnapped Gaara, and we got Gaara back alive, but they got the Shukaku in the process.”

Even ignoring how horrifying the idea of Madara with just one Tailed-Beast is, this is news Itachi was dreading on receiving. “Are you okay?” he says, looking his brother up and down but seeing no evidence of injury. “Is everyone on your team?”

“Yeah, we’re all fine,” Sasuke says quickly. “Naruto brushes off injuries like they’re nothing, and Sakura’s too good of a healer to let the rest of us die. But, Sakura destroyed Sasori of the Red Sand and all of his puppets, and Kakashi and I took out the explosives expert by getting him to self-destruct. What did you do you him? He hated me in specific.”

“He didn’t appreciate proof that genjutsu was superior to destruction,” Itachi answers, and as he spent most of his time with Kisame, he feels less grief, and more slight amazement that a fifteen-year-old chuunin killed Sasori. “How did you survive?”

“Susanoo is surprisingly effective against large explosions,” Sasuke says. “Sakura fixed my eyes after. Uh, I know this is probably…I don’t know. I’ll be around for a little while, unless something specific comes up. Naruto’s training for the chuunin exams, since they’re in Konoha this year.”

So, Suna knowingly requested two chuunin, a gennin, and a single jounin in response to the Akatsuki. Itachi lived with those men (and Konan) for long enough to know that’s not a very good decision. And Sasuke isn’t his teammates; he doesn’t have a Tailed-Beast to speed up the healing process, or medical training from the most renowned kunoichi in the shinobi world. From what Itachi’s heard, Sasuke spent the two years Sakura and Naruto received apprenticeships from two legendary sannin just performing ordinary missions. He had no family, or ANBU teammates to train him in more a more advanced style.

There’s little reason, Itachi realizes, why his brother was skilled enough to kill Orochimaru, and assist in killing Deidara,at fourteen. “Sasuke,” he says, “how did you know about Susanoo?”

Though he seems a bit surprised at the question, Sasuke says, “I summoned just his rib-caged accidentally about two and a half years ago. Then I summoned him accidentally about a month later. That’s when I back to the shrine and read up on all that I could with the Mangekyo Sharingan. It doesn’t really explain how to do anything, but it at least explains what each technique is.”

Two and a half years ago fits the time for when they were reunited. “How did you know what the Akatsuki was?” Itachi asks. “And Shimura Danzo?”

“Danzo’s name showed up too many times in your old mission reports to be normal,” Sasuke answers, and walks into the small kitchen area, getting himself a small glass of water. “I sort of broke into those when I was about ten. That was a guess. The Akatsuki was a logic. Kakashi was in the hospital, I went to go see him, someone came in asking if the Akatsuki was really after Naruto, and I went to go find my friend. Finding you there was just lucky. I said whatever I could to get a reaction. Jiraiya told me anything I wanted afterwards. Well, once he stopped being angry. Throwing Naruto out a window to talk to you didn’t have the best reaction.”

Using logic to put together that Itachi was part of the Akatsuki, he can believe, but there were more names than just Shimura Danzo’s that would’ve been repeated an unnecessary number of times. At the moment, things are too precarious between the two of them for Itachi to ask that, but he makes a note to do so eventually. “This is a personal,” he says instead, “but how did you develop your Mangekyo Sharingan?”

“If I answer your question, can you answer one of mine?” That doesn’t bode well, but still, he says he will. “We had a mission that went wrong. It was a C-ranked mission that turned out to be an A-ranked, and we came across a couple of missing-nin. Zabuza and Haku of Kirigakure. Haku could create this prison of mirrors that allowed him to move at a rapid speed through a kekkei genkei. I was able to keep up because of the Sharingan, but Naruto didn’t have the same advantage. He was hit by senbon needles, and sent into a state of temporary death. I thought it was my fault. Next thing I knew, black flames everywhere. I burned Haku alive, mostly. Kakashi took care of the rest.”

“You can develop the Mangekyo Sharingan from just thinking someone died?”

Sasuke looks down at his glass of water. “Not normally, I’m guessing,” he says, or more accurately mumbles. “When I was younger I’d do things like activate it accidentally. It’s amazing what a bad enough panic attack can do to the Sharingan.”

“Are you any better with it now?” Itachi says, because he knows the negative reaction an apology will get. Sasuke may act as though Itachi’s blameless, but he’s well aware that many of these panic or anxiety attacks are the result of his actions. He wonders if his brother can use the Tsukuyomi, or if that was a traumatic enough experience he subconsciously blocked that ability.

With a slight nod, Sasuke says, “Kakashi trained me as much as he could. I know you developed yours because of Shisui. This might seem like a weird question, but that was suicide, right? You didn’t walk on him getting murdered or anything?”

“No, it was suicide,” Itachi says, and expects to have to explain it, but Sasuke’s shoulders just drop. “What is it?”

It took years for nightmares of Shisui’s death to end, and even now Itachi still gets them on occasion. His brother’s blatant relief is disturbing, to say the least. “I’ll explain later,” he says. “I actually have to go. Only for a few hours, though.”

He’s blushing. Sasuke, who’s emotions have been frighteningly well closed off, is actually blushing. “Did something happen with your friend?” Itachi asks, remembering what Kakashi said in the woods. “Sakura?”

“You saw us together a week!” Sasuke says. “How did you know?”

“Several of the people in Konoha already refer to you as the Godaime’s apprentice’s boyfriend,” Itachi says, and even if it weren’t for that, his brother and Sakura are just too familiar with each other. “Have fun, Sasuke.”

When he leaves, he’s still blushing, and the water remains untouched on the small table. Of any things Itachi expected to face this early in his return, his little brother’s dating life was one of the last.

 

 

Though the mission had been nothing short of mess, Sasuke still ended up in a good enough mood to have it in him to agree on a date, and the feeling persists. Today he’s just Sasuke, Konoha chuunin possibly on the verge of becoming a jounin, and he tries not to think about the inevitable downward spiral he’ll have to face in a few days.

Mebuki had already made dinner before Sakura could tell her they weren’t going to eat at home, so she handed some over in a couple of boxes, and they eat in a clearing in the woods. She does most of the talking, as usual, not expecting him to match her, and in the end, they don’t act much different than usual. After two years of spending most of their time together, it’s not as though they need to get to know each other. This is probably a good thing, because Sasuke doesn’t feel like lying. Not right now.

Eventually, the sun starts to sink below the line of the trees. “I’ve liked you,” she says, “for a really, really long time.”

He doesn’t think about a girl crying in the middle of dark road, begging him to stay. Instead, he thinks about a green and gold kimono, and a hand over his eyes, glowing with chakra.

“Yeah,” he says, “me too,” and when she kisses him, he doesn’t hesitate to kiss back.

 

 

It doesn’t take long for Sasuke to Sakura to be, well, together, and things stop being so awkward, to Naruto’s relief. Apparently all they needed was to “deal with their unspoken feelings,” as Kakashi put it, which Naruto’s pretty sure he got out of one of his books. Either that, or they’ve all just relearned each other during that last mission. Whatever it is, Naruto doesn’t care, because it means things are mostly back to the way they were, and that’s fine by him.

Currently, Sakura’s not even around, because she’s working, and Naruto’s practicing his new awesome nature transformation while Sasuke sits on the grass and watches, ready to help if he can. For once, help doesn’t mean tips. Naruto’s control over the Kyuubi is good, but it’s not great, and Jiraiya won’t let him forget that their training isn’t complete. With just one implanted Sharingan, Kakashi isn’t strong enough for any ability to suppress that chakra, but Sasuke is. No one likes the idea, including him, but Naruto wants to learn how to be a wind user without accidentally going overboard, and if there’s one person he trusts with the monster he has locked inside of him, it’s the guy who taught him orange rubber bands were a bad idea for silver faucets.

 But, he’d definitely feel way better if Sasuke wasn’t doubting himself. Jiraiya would probably be better at teaching Naruto how to combine the Rasengan with wind, because he can actually use both, but he’s still looking for a way to undo those seals on the Root people.

Naruto concentrates on the Rasengan on his hand, and imagines gusts of wind in the ravines near Suna, but all that happens is his chakra spins faster. He clenches his jaw, feels sweat drip from his hairline. Sure, so he can become chuunin without this, but what about jounin? What about Hokage? If Sakura can control water, and Sasuke can control lightning _and_ fire _and_ other ones because of his kekkei genkai, then the least Naruto can do is master wind. He figured out the Rasengan in less than a month. This shouldn’t be any harder.

 _Just cut the leaf_ , he thinks, because that’s what he’s supposed to do. _People in Suna do it all the time. It’s not that hard._

Except it is that hard, as it turns out. He feels it the moment he sees Sasuke’s eyes shift into the Sharingan—his chakra is changing, going from yellow to red, and there’s something hot and cutting moving from inside him to outside, worse than a knife. Naruto stops the Rasengan immediately, trying to get himself under control, but it took him too long to notice, and then he’s inside the seal, eye to eye with the Kyuubi, nose poking out of the cage.

Then, from  behind him: “Huh. It really does work.”

He spins around, back facing the Kyuubi, which is probably a shitty idea, and Sasuke’s just standing there with his hands in his pockets. “You’re _inside_ me?” he says, suddenly too disturbed to care about the gigantic fox snarling at his back.

“My mind is, I guess,” Sasuke says, walking right past him, “but my body’s out there open to attack. Try not to do this a real fight.” Before Naruto answer, Sasuke’s reaches out, adds, “Stop bothering my friend,” and touches the Kyuubi’s nose.

Next thing Naruto knows, he’s back on the grass, flat on his stomach, with Sasuke next to him. “I never want to do that again,” he says, and presses his hands over his eyes.

Naruto’s head feels fuzzy, and the seal on his stomach hurts. If he has anything to say about it, Sasuke won’t have to, because Naruto trusts his best friend with his life, but he might not trust himself the same way.

 

 

For Sasuke’s fifteenth birthday, Kakashi’s present is to finally recommend him for the jounin exam. While all that’s going on, traditions take fulfilling, and he spends the day with his team. Originally, he actually meant to take a break and have dinner with Itachi, alone, but one of the treatments of course has to fall today, and they end up just wandering around Konoha instead, waving to everyone who waves at them.

There are a lot of people who still dislike Itachi, Sasuke’s starting to notice, but comments on it are usually kept in check. It took him a while to figure out this is because Itachi’s his brother, and Sasuke has shockingly good standing in the village. “Killing the right people will do that to you,” is Kakashi’s explanation, but it still leaves Sasuke disturbed more often not.

Not just Sakura, but Naruto too, now, realized this for themselves, and Sasuke’s relieved when their answer is to go out to one of the less populated areas. “When’ll the jounin exam be?” Naruto asks as Sakura takes Sasuke’s hand. “It better be after the chuunin exams. It’s just not right if you end up being a jounin, and I’m still a gennin.”

His friend’s tone’s joking, but the closer he’s been getting to the chuunin exams, the more he’s been making comments like this. Sasuke gets it; as much as he and Sakura laughed over the fact that Naruto would end up being the only gennin of their age group, they hadn’t actually expected that to be true.

“I’ll find out details when Kakashi gets me permission,” Sasuke answers. “If he gets me permission.”

Rolling her eyes, Sakura says, “Like they’re going to deny you.”

It’s been three weeks since the mission to retrieve Gaara, and Sasuke’s only had one. That normally wouldn’t sound like much, but it was had no official rank, as no one actually hired them, and directly involved another village. If they’re right about the Akatsuki going in order of tails, then Kumogakure is facing the next attack, and Konoha wanted to establish that they’d be called on for aid when that time came. Sasuke heard Little Uchiha once his entire time there, and found out his price in the Bingo Book jumped.

Drawing this much attention to himself was a bad idea, but if he can stop Madara because he’s unreasonably good for a kid of fifteen, then Sasuke really doesn’t care about what lies he needs to make up to deflect that attention along the way.


	13. chapter xii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing says good time for a disaster quite like the Konoha chuunin exams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a slight time skip in this, because I literally rewrote this chapter three times, and it kept coming out like filler. Basically, Sasuke becomes a jounin. That's about all that's important. 
> 
> Also! Most of you are going to kill me for this. I took forever, and now here's the chapter warning:
> 
> Character death.

A month after Sasuke becomes a jounin, it’s Naruto’s turn to be promoted. “My team’s the Sandaime’s grandson and his girl teammate,” he says the morning of the exams, walking to the Academy with Sakura and Sasuke. They’re here to see him off for much needed moral support. “There’s another Forest of Death this year. What if they die? What if something goes wrong?”

When Team Kakashi took the chuunin exams three years ago, they all knew how to fight together. These two are barely out of the Academy, though, and Konohamaru might be the Hokage’s grandson, but he’s not exactly Sakura or Sasuke. Also, he’s like twelve, and about as short as Naruto used to be. The girl’s even smaller, but her hair makes her stand out. What if he loses them? He’ll not only fail the exam, but Tsunade’ll kill him, too.

Looking back, he really should’ve seen about getting special permission for a one man team or something.

With a smirk, Sasuke, says, “Don’t worry, Naruto, you always were so good at those babysitting missions,” and Sakura laughs.

“You could get them nametags with return addresses,” she says through giggles. “Look at it this way: it’s helping you with protection missions.”

“But what if the first part’s the same as ours?” Naruto says. “I got better, but Konohamaru is like a miniature version of me. It’s _weird_.”

As much as Konohamaru’s like him, he’s more like if Naruto never had Sasuke to call him out on pranks gone wrong. The kid just doesn’t get stealth, which’s going to make the Forest of Death harder than it needs to be.

Shrugging, Sakura says, “Kakashi-sensei made it sound so horrible afterwards when we told him what our first test was, so I doubt that’s normal. And don’t do anything stupid.”

“It’s the chuunin exams,” Naruto says. “The whole point of normal ones is to do stupid things and hope you don’t die.”

Hopefully this chuunin exam will go better than his last one. With everything that’s going on now, he wasn’t even sure if he should, but with Sasuke advancing, Naruto just felt left out as a gennin. “Don’t use your Rasengan at full strength,” Sasuke says. “Jounin are getting told to intercept third test fights if it’s about to result in one of the opponents dead.”

“Already? Isn’t that like a month away?”

“Konoha’s condensing it to a week for security reasons,” Sakura says. “Suna did the same thing when I went for my exam. You know how we had preliminaries? That’s now test three, except instead of just one match, it’s a full tournament.”

That makes sense, Naruto supposes, but it’s not going to suck any less. Not being allowed to leave the tower means sleeping on tile floor, which is only slightly more comfortable than desert sand. “Kakashi-sensei met us right after,” he says. “Can’t you do that? I’m going to be so bored.”

Even before Sasuke says, “I’ll see what I can do,” in the least enthusiastic tone ever, Naruto knows that was a stupid question. His own experiences in there weren’t exactly anything he’d want to repeat, and he now has a full understanding for his friend’s fear of snakes, but Sasuke would probably never willingly go back in there again. Except that he is anyway, because that’s where the new third test is going to be. Oh.

He goes to say that nevermind, Sasuke doesn’t have to, but it cut off by Konohamaru calling his name. “Good luck, Naruto,” Sakura says, giving him a quick hug. “You better be made chuunin by the end of this.”

“Don’t let your guard down just because you’re better than anyone else here,” Sasuke says. “Konoha’s security is better than it used to be, but the Akatsuki’s still after you.”

As Orochimaru got in without any real trouble until Sasuke, Naruto’s perfectly aware of how easy these exams are to infiltrate. He’s basically a walking target, which isn’t any different than if he goes on a mission, except that his team won’t be with him. “Yeah,” he says. “I’ll watch out.”

After one last hug from Sakura, he goes to meet up with his temporary team of twelve-year-olds. “Our little Naruto is growing up so fast!” she says, loud enough for him to hear, and Sasuke laughs.

Naruto survived two years without them. He can survive a week.

 

 

As a jounin, Sasuke’s on constant standby for security threats until the chuunin exam ends, something that doesn’t make him feel any better about sending his friend off alone. He managed to keep the worry to a minimum earlier, surrounded by people, but the nighttime makes it harder to deal with. Eventually he gets up, unable to try to force himself to sleep anymore, and fails in the effort not to wake Itachi up.

His brother’s standing by the main room light, his hair messy and eyes blinking sleepily. “Did something happen, Sasuke?” he asks. He’s midway through the treatment’s now, his body following the idea of “you need to get worse to get better,” and Tsunade said he needs rest. Waking him was really something Sasuke was hoping to avoid.

“No,” he answers, glancing down at his shoes on the doormat. “Just can’t sleep. Sorry.”

“Is this about Naruto and the exams?” Itachi says, ignoring him.

Despite Sasuke’s greatest efforts, Itachi’s still managed to pick up on a few things, his overprotective streak being one of them. “Naruto’s a Jinchuruki who can’t stay injured for more than a day,” Sasuke says, more for his benefit than anything else. “It’s not like I have to worry about him getting hurt.”

When Itachi’s hand finds his arm, Sasuke jumps. They don’t touch often. “He’ll be fine,” Itachi says, “and you aren’t going to feel any better wandering around in the middle of the night. It’s not as though it worked when you were younger worrying about me.”

With Sasuke’s life as confusing as it is, he doesn’t think much about childhood, and he hadn’t made the connection yet between his restlessness when worrying about his team to how he used to be when it came to his brother. “How did you know about that?” he says, because Itachi might’ve been present, but getting up and walking around the house was something Sasuke only did when he was away on missions. Itachi came back injured once, which was enough to start the nightmares of him never coming back at all. Maybe it’s not so surprising that nightmare came true.

“You were six, and I was just starting to go out on long term missions,” he says. “I’d come home to find one of our parents carrying you back to bed because you accidentally fell asleep on the couch.”

Sasuke does vaguely remember that after wandering around, he’d wake up again in his bed to find Itachi had come home, but their parents never said anything. “I barely slept the whole time Sakura was in Suna,” Sasuke says, frowning. “I know security’s improved, but people still die all the time, or worse. Lee would’ve been crippled for life if Tsunade hadn’t come back.”

“The examiners let that happen?”

“He was against Gaara. They stopped the match as soon as they could.”

It was a fast fight that only lasted about ten minutes. At the time, Sasuke was so concerned with his own match against Gaara that he hadn’t been as horrified as he should’ve been. “The chuunin exams used to be much bloodier than they are now, from what I’ve heard,” Itachi says. “Matches weren’t stopped. That started with my exam. It was the first to have no casualties.”

As long as Konohamaru, whose death could probably spark a war, or Naruto don’t die, Sasuke doesn’t care about casualties. He just hopes the Akatsuki doesn’t try anything. If they come into Konoha borders, their target’ll be more than just Naruto, but probably Itachi, too. “Mine would’ve, if it weren’t for the invasion,” Sasuke says. “The only ones to die were the Oto-nin, and they were never real participants anyway. Just after me. I was still unconscious from the fight with Orochimaru, so Naruto and Sakura had to fight them alone.”

Even back then, Naruto was good, and he’s even better now, but if Sasuke hadn’t woken up, he doesn’t know what would’ve happened. “I know you’ve heard this often enough,” Itachi says, concerned, “but you can’t do anything to help if you’re too tired.”

“I know that,” Sasuke says, shoulders dropping. “Doesn’t make falling asleep easier. I get that it’s just in my head, but…I don’t know. Naruto can take care of himself.”

Talking about this isn’t something he does normally, but he’s tired, and it’s late, and this is Itachi. “It’s true that he can, from what you’ve told,” he says, “but you’re allowed to worry. You—”

Before he can continue, there’s a knock on the door. Anyone coming at two in the morning can’t possibly have good news, and when Sasuke pulls it open, he’s expecting one of the examiners. Instead, it’s Kakashi. “Sai’s seal just broke,” he says immediately. “All of theirs did. Shimura Danzo’s dead, and Tsunade wants you at the tower. Hi, Itachi.”

Sasuke though he’d be happy when Danzo died, but all he has is a bad feeling about this. “Give me five minutes,” he says, and heads back to his room.

 

 

A call for help from Kumo and the Root members’ seals deactivating at the same isn’t good, and Sasuke’s first mission as a jounin is to investigate strange chakra readings near the border of the Lightning Country. Most jounin are staying in Konoha as security, and Root members, including Sai, are getting checked over, which means Sasuke does the exact opposite of what Kakashi wanted for him, and ends up leading a squad of chuunin. Sakura’s here, of course, and Neji and Tenten. There’s a disturbance in the Fire Country, too, but that was given to Asuma, Shikamaru, and two chuunin Sasuke doesn’t know.

The trip from Konoha to the Lightning Country border where they’re meeting the Kumo-nin takes a week, and that’s even without the mission. “We might be back in time for the festival,” Sakura says about six hours out. “That makes it slightly less terrible, right?”

“I don’t think missing the third test is what’s going to matter,” Sasuke says, glancing to Neji and Tenten, who’re discussing training methods. “If this mission is what Tsunade thinks it is, then it’ll be bad.”

“You aren’t the only one he’ll be disappointed in,” she says. “Doesn’t killing seem a little extreme?”

Creating a Jinchuruki with an uncontained Tailed-Beast requires the person doing the sealing to sacrifice himself, but Madara probably wouldn’t have much trouble forcing someone into doing it. He hates Danzo enough, and with Shisui’s eye, he should be able to have some sort of control over the chakra to keep it contained until the sealing was complete. The current theory is that the Akatsuki either reused the Shukaku, or found the Isobu, and plan to unleash it near Kumo to lower their defensives and get the Matatabi and the Gyuuki in the resulting chaos. Rather than either village take in the Jinchuruki, their objective is to kill him or her, and get the body back to Kumo where they can make sure the Tailed-Beast is never revived.

For once, Sasuke’s actually glad Naruto _isn’t_ here.

“It reduces the risk of the Akatsuki getting all nine,” Sasuke says, paraphrasing Tsunade’s explanation. “Whoever this Jinchuruki is won’t have any alliances, so it’s not like we’ll be angering another village.”

Sighing, Sakura says, “I know, but it doesn’t feel right. They probably didn’t accept this willingly.”

Killing a Jinchuruki won’t sit right with him, either, though he knows it’s ridiculous. He’s killed enough ordinary people before. This is just his attachment to Naruto getting in the way. “The Kumo chakra sensors might be getting the wrong readings,” Sasuke says. “We’ll deal with it when we get there. Just make sure if I don’t die if I have to shut down the chakra reserve.”

“About that,” Tenten says from behind him, pulling out of her conversation. “What’s going to happen to you?”

“I leave my body,” Sasuke answers. The Sharingan has just as many drawbacks as it does advantages. “If it comes to that, I’ll be able to reduce whoever it is to their normal state. I don’t know how long it lasts, though, so we’ll have to finish the mission fast.”

When he did it to Naruto, the effects lasted until the following morning. “Even kekkei genkai require training,” Neji says. “Are you certain you can do this?”

They wouldn’t question any other jounin, Sasuke thinks, but he’s not surprised by it, either. “Yeah,” he says. “Just make sure I don’t die. It shouldn’t take more than a minute.”

Despite his bias because Naruto, Sasuke understands the logic, and keeping Madara from that kind of power is more important than morality at the moment. Sasuke’s willing to do what he has to if it means he doesn’t have to watch Konoha be destroyed.

 

 

During Naruto’s first chuunin exam, Gaara and his siblings beat the Forest of Death record by finishing in four hours. Naruto, Konohamaru, and Moegei finish in three.

“These Suna-nin recognized me from getting Gaara back,”  he tells Kakashi, who meets with him around six. “They literally threw scroll at my face as a peace offering and ran away.”

Ever since then, his team’s been grumbling about how they didn’t even get the chance to fight. Naruto doesn’t care; the moment he stepped foot in there, he remembered being covered in snake guts, carrying Sasuke on his back, not knowing when he was going to wake up. All Naruto wanted this time was to get out as fast as he could and not go through a situation like that again.

Kakashi glances around the room. “I think they’re not the only ones who recognized you,” he says. “Look.”

More than one group’s shooting looks in their direction. There’s no way news of what happened in Suna got around that quickly. “But I haven’t done anything,” Naruto says. “Or not alone anyway.”

“So?” Kakashi says. “How do you think Sakura and Sasuke ended up getting talk spread before he was written into the Bingo Book? They were my students, and we did missions together. Where my name went, so did theirs. You’re still part of the team.”

Lately, Naruto _has_ started to feel like he’s part of the team again, but he didn’t realize he’d helped enough to earn real recognition. Sasuke’s not just kind of awesome, but also one of the last two members of a major clan, and Sakura’s the Hokage’s apprentice. Sure, Naruto might’ve trained under Jiraiya, but Konoha’s been trying to keep his existence something close to hidden for his whole life. That’s how Jiraiya explained it to him anyway, and he hadn’t understood how the Akatsuki found out. It’s not like Itachi was old enough at the time to know, so the one Konoha-nin involved was just as clueless as most people. With the Akatsuki already knowing, Naruto doesn’t get why it matters anymore since everyone will find out eventually, but he did skip out on two years. If he’s going to be Hokage, it’s probably a good idea his generation knows how great he is _before_ they learn he has the thing that killed a large number of their grandparents trapped inside of him.

Whatever. Someone had to do it, and most people were jerks to him growing up, but it’s not like he didn’t manage to make the best friends anyone could ever ask for.

And one of those best friends is even going to be able to watch him fight his way into achieving a step further in reaching his goal. “You’re right,” he says, then adds, “Do you know when Sasuke’s getting here? Or if you can sneak Sakura in?”

After a slight hesitation, Kakashi answers, “Something came up that only Sasuke can deal with. I’m sorry, but they aren’t going to make it.”

On one hand, Naruto’s sort of angry, and more than just a little disappointed, but on the other, he’s worried. Something only Sasuke can deal with is almost guaranteed to mean the Akatsuki. “They’ll be all right, right?” Naruto says.

“It’s nothing they can’t handle,” Kakashi says so fast it has to be a total lie. “Just focus on the third test. Making it to chuunin’s a good surprise.”

If it’s enough to need a surprise, then yeah, definitely not good. Somehow, Naruto knows without having any real reason why he should, that something’s going to go wrong. This exam just became twice as important, because like Kakashi said, he’s still part of Team Seven, and him not being there doesn’t mean he can’t help. When they get back, someone needs to be there to pick up the pieces.

 

 

Though Konohamaru advances to round two, Moegei gets out in her first fight. Thankfully, he gets out on his second match, and Naruto avoids having to fight him.

Unlike his first chuunin exam, there’s no crazy conspiracy, which means he’s the most skilled. His final fight, which is also the final round of the whole tournament, is against a Kiri-nin who goes on this whole speech about how he’s so absolutely going to win, and being one of the Konoha Four (since when did they get a name?) isn’t going to be enough to save Naruto. Like Sakura and the Zabuza guy from three years ago, this Kiri-nin uses the chakra mist thing. Unfortunately for him, Naruto’s used to it. By making a lot clones, there’re enough eyes to catch the guy’s shape when he gets too close, and Naruto knocks him out in a way he normally wouldn’t, but there’s no point in using anything strong. Instead of something as cool as the Rasengan, Naruto just punches the Kiri-nin hard enough in the forehead to knock him out.

When Anko, who’s just as nuts as last time, announces Naruto winner of the tournament, he searches for Kakashi in the ground, wanting to see if he made him proud. Surprisingly, he can’t find him anywhere. As he forces himself through the crowd of angry, disappointed shinobi, looking to see if maybe he just missed that grey hair somehow, something touches his shoulder. He jumps, spinning around, and instead of Kakashi, it’s the announcer from his last third test.

Slightly out of breath, he says, “The Hokage wants to see you. Now.”

“What about Konohamaru and Moegei?”

“Their sensei’s taking care of it,” the guy answers. “You coming or not?”

Naruto follows, having no other choice, and knows already that bad feeling wasn’t for nothing.

 

 

During the week of the Forest of Death, Shikamaru sent home Asuma’s corpse, and called for reinforcements. The rest of Shikamaru’s team, and Kakashi, are all he gets.

Fighting against two seemingly immortal Akatsuki members wasn’t how he thought he’d spend the day of Naruto’s third test. Itachi explained both, but even he didn’t know how to kill Hidan, and Kakashi reluctantly leaves that up to the others while he fights off the other one. Killing someone five times isn’t as easy as it sounds, and it sounds hard enough already.

Eventually, Shikamaru leads Hidan away, and Naruto shows up after Kakashi gets knocked back for the second time. “I’ve killed him three times already,” he says when he pulls himself up. “Just two more times, and he’s gone for good.”

Though he’s older with more fighting experience, his Sharingan’s implanted, and Sasuke or Itachi’s Amaterasu would be the easiest to deal with the opponent. Unfortunately, one’s in Kumo dealing with a mission that doesn’t seem like an accident, especially given the way these two were talking about him, and the other’s sick and on probation. Ino and Chouji are good, but not great, and Naruto just came for a five match tournament. Even with Shikamaru’s plan, odds aren’t looking good.

Luckily for Kakashi, he’s fought worse and made it out alive.

“I’m ready for anything,” Naruto says. He must’ve hastily been made chuunin already for this.

“Prepare yourself,” Kakashi says, not wanting Naruto to do anything rash and accidently release too much of the Kyuubi’s chakra. “I don’t have the chakra left to do any more than occupy his attention.”      

With a nod, they throw themselves into their respective tasks. The more Akatsuki members they take out the better, and he’d rather not have any of his students die in the process.

 

 

As they’re on Kumo-nin territory, the Kumo-nin call the shots, and Sakura wouldn’t care so much if they weren’t so judgmental. Both are jounin, but in their twenties, and act like the fact that Sasuke’s only fifteen is the worst thing in the world. At the village where the chakra signature is coming from, they all split up to cover more ground, which Sakura thinks is a terrible idea, and makes sure she and Sasuke separate last.

Relationships between teammates isn’t forbidden or anything, but acting affectionate on a mission is still frowned upon. Even so, before they split, Sakura kisses her boyfriend goodbye. “Signal the moment you hear something,” she says. “Don’t try to close off the chakra reserve on your own.”

For the sake of trust between them, they haven’t informed the Kumo-nin team about what Sasuke can do. The last thing they need is for them to be suspicious that he’ll try to release the Tailed-Beast or something. “I won’t,” he says. “I’m smarter than that, Sakura.”

In some ways, yes, he is, but in others, he really isn’t. As much as everyone likes to act like he got that martyr complex out of his system, she knows differently. He’ll still too dependent on making sure she and Naruto are safe, and she’s on the mission. This is a disaster waiting to happen, because she doesn’t want what she thought happened in Suna to actually happen.

He kisses her again, more final this time, and elbows her in the direction of the village. “Go,” he says. “I’ll find you soon.”

Though she’s not sure if she believes him, she leaves, and tells herself they’ll find each other soon.

 

 

When Sasuke finds Karin on the route he’s taking into the village, he thinks that he really shouldn’t be surprised. It takes a special sort of chakra to make a Jinchuruki, and hers had always been disturbingly similar to Naruto’s.

“What’d he promise you?” Sasuke asks when she turns around, having sensed him before she sees him. “There aren’t many advantages to be a Jinchuruki.”

Unlike him, Karin doesn’t seem surprised. “You killed him on Konoha’s order,” she says. “They promised I could get revenge on Konoha. They even proved it by using the man who issued the order as the seal.”

This time, she sounds the same as he remembers, and looks it too, with weird hairstyle and stubbornly straight posture. Her obsession with him went in and out, and at the times it wasn’t there, he enjoyed her company more than the others. He told himself that no matter what, he’d be able to finish the mission, despite his attachment to Naruto. Now, though, Sasuke’s going to have to deal with memories of a friend, too.

No, she’s not his friend. This is a different Karin with different goals, and he’s even more different than that. “Let me guess,” he says. “All you have to do first to help the Akatsuki get the Kumo Jinchuruki by breaking your seal? Karin, you’re more intelligent than this. You know what’s going to happen.”

Her mouth presses into a thin line. “Why did you kill him?”

“Is right now really the time for this?”

“Just answer the question!”

With her ability to read chakra, she’s going to know if he’s lying or not. Omission’ll have to work well enough. “He threatened to use my girlfriend as ‘leverage,’” he answers. “I’m protective to the point it’s been considered an issue to my mental health. I guess I just panicked.”

“You have a girlfriend?” she says, crossing her arms, suddenly sounding a lot like the old Karin. More resigned, she adds, “No one ever ordered you, did they?”

Shaking his head, he says, “No. Actually, I was supposed to flee on sight.”

“Why did you tell me?” she says. “I just said I wanted to get revenge on your village. Isn’t telling me you have a girlfriend dangerous?”

“You asked,” he says, uncomfortable. “You know what’s really going to happen, right? I figure you deserve to know the truth. Enough people’ve lied you. I don’t want to be one of them.”

“Because this is going to kill me?”

“Very painfully.”

She’s silent for a moment, and her shoulders drop. Then, “I don’t want to die. Doesn’t really matter what I do, though, does it? You’re here to kill me, too.”

As much as he wishes that weren’t true, he nods. “I’m too high ranked for flee on sight this time.”

With a sad smile and teary eyes, she asks, “Can you do it? I don’t want to die like that.”

It’s a bad idea to do this close quarters, but he pulls out a kunai and steps towards her. If he’s going to kill a girl who was his friend in his other life, he’s going to make sure it’s painless. “Anything you want beforehand?”

“Smile for me, Sasuke-kun?”

Before he can, Madara appears in the suddenness of a time-space jump, and Karin disappears just as quickly. “I wonder what you girlfriend would think of that, _Sasuke-kun_ ,” he says, and then disappears, too.

The kunai Sasuke throws connects with the rock in front of him, and he’s just so fucked.

 

 

After they return from the fight with the Akatsuki, Tsunade organizes a team of reinforcements to help Sasuke that Kakashi’s leading. The readings in Kumo and the attack on Fire Country soil happening at the same time meant one of them had to have been a distraction, and if this was it, it’s going to take more than Sasuke’s Sharingan to deal with whatever they’re up against. Though Naruto’s wrist is damaged, he heals fast enough that he gets put on the reinforcements team, too, and other than him, Kakashi’s given Team Eight, Lee, and Sai. It’s going to take a week to get there, Sasuke’s team’s already been there for days, and there’s a chance they’re going to be too late.

For something this important, Kakashi doesn’t find some fabricated excuse to be late, and makes it to the front gate and the same time as Naruto. “Where’re the others?” his student says, bouncing his weight from foot to foot. “I want to go.”

The fight with the Akatsuki members began with a comment about Sasuke—or Itachi’s little brother anyway, and how children who rise so fast all have to fall in the end. Either attack could’ve been the distraction, or maybe neither. No matter how Kakashi looks at it, though, Sasuke and Sakura have walked themselves into a trap. Sending Sasuke after a potential Jinchuruki sounded like the best possible option because of his ability to shut down chakra reserves, but there might be a way to stop that for all they know. If there’s one definite way to kill him, it’s to have a Tailed-Beast do it.

Kakashi hopes for more than just Sasuke and Sakura’s sakes that this isn’t going to happen; it won’t be good for Naruto to find out another Jinchuruki killed his two best friends. “I bet they’re doing all right,” Kakashi says, smiling reassuringly. “We can wait a few minutes for the others.”

Because of the size of the group, a few minutes turns into a half hour. Regardless of what he said, Kakashi can’t say for sure they’ll get there in time.

 

 

If it were just Karin, the fight would be horrifying, but easy. Instead, Madara’s here too, which means there’s no way Sasuke can leave himself vulnerable. Without his ability to go inside the seal, he can slow the release his long lost ancestor is causing, but he can’t stop it altogether. That’s the problem.

Tenten’s weapons are doing nothing, and the best the rest of them can do is stay on the defensive. Sasuke has Susanoo activated, moving independently, but landing a hit on Madara seems impossible. Between his frustration at that, and Karin’s screaming, Sasuke’s having difficulty concentrating. If he stops Karin by killing her, though, it’s not only a mercy kill, but at least it’ll be a mission success before they all die. All it takes is one look at Sakura for his girlfriend to know what he’s planning on doing, and as she leaps out of Susanoo’s protection with Tenten and the one Kumo-nin inside with her to help attack Madara head on, Sasuke moves to the right towards Karin.

The attack is wishful thinking, and he knows it, but it’s not like he hasn’t been considered crazy for what he does before. As he flips his chokuto to his left hand, he creates a Chidori with his right, because that’s still the strongest version. Right as he gets close enough, Karin’s eyes meet his, her glasses cracked with her pupils dilated, body surrounded by chakra so intense it’s causing her to bleed from all her old bite marks, and for a moment, he thinks it’s going to work. But, of course, Madara can move faster than a Shunshin, and he’s there before Sasuke can connect, catching his wrist, and snapping it.

Sasuke lands several feet away, scraping up his side, tearing himself up on the rocky ground, and involuntarily gasps from the pain. Even with his vision going in and out, he can see Sakura on the ground, eyes closed, Neji lying in a pool of blood, and the Kumo kunoichi’s arm separated from her body. Tenten and other Kumo-nin are by their teammates, too far away to offer any help, and Sasuke accidentally released Susanoo. It’s his first mission as a squad leader, and he just got Sakura killed.

When he sees the branch shooting out from Madara’s arm towards him, Sasuke forces himself up, determined not to die without some resistance. Except the attack never makes its mark, because then Karin’s there, and the wood’s going through her instead.

Everything freezes, and the pain disappears in wake of shock. It’s through her chest, large enough get her heart though it wasn’t at the right angle, and she died instantly. What did he _ever_ do for her to deserve this? He never even had the chance to smile.

Without thinking, he grabs his chokuto only a foot away, and thinks that if he couldn’t smile for her, the least he can do is take out the man who did this to her, to Sakura. He pushes the charged blade straight through Karin’s body and into Madara’s, solid for once, and extends the electricity into a blast. The wood retracts as he leaps back, the pain apparently getting him over whatever shock he felt. Sasuke lets his drop, and releases Amaterasu, which Madara just lets pass right through him. Now Sasuke’s concentration’s slipping again, so it’s hard, but he manages to extinguish it before it can hit Tenten.

More quickly than anyone has the right to, Madara recovers, but attacking must leave him solid, because he’s caught in ropes of electricity courtesy of the remaining Kumo-nin before anything can happen. “You three get into the barrier,” he says as Tenten picks up Sakura’s unconscious body. “Bring the corpse. I’ll hold this guy off.”

Doing a Shunshin with just Naruto was hard enough, and making seals with a broken wrist is even worse, but at least Tenten knows how to do it, too. She picks up Sakura’s unconscious body, and with one last, pained look at Neji, performs the seals at the same time as Sasuke. Moments later, they’re just inside Kumogakure’s border, and he’s too burned out to keep his eyes open.

 

 

By the time the reinforcements make it to Kumo, Neji’s dead, and Sasuke and Sakura are too injured to be allowed to travel alone. “The mission was a success,” Sasuke says, tone and face completely blank in a way Naruto hasn’t seen in years. “The Akatsuki is now unable to access at least one Tailed-Beast.”

With a quiet sigh, Sakura slumps down against the wall, and rests her head against Sasuke’s shoulder. Even though he knows he shouldn’t, Naruto still feels a bit betrayed that his two best friends actually killed someone like him. Kakashi said they were given orders, but people are supposed to break those sometimes for morals? No one really has a choice to become like this.

To make it worse, Neji died, too. Hinata’s been sobbing ever since she found out. “Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura says softly as Sasuke takes her hand and focuses on some point past Naruto’s shoulder, “can we go home now?”

“In the morning,” Kakashi answers, looking down at them. “There’re a few things we need to take care of first. Sasuke, I need you to stay alert, okay?”

Sasuke nods, but that’s the only indication that he heard. As hurt as Naruto is to find out they’re responsible for the death of a Jinchuruki, he’s pretty worried, too, because Sasuke hasn’t been out of it like this in literal years. Sakura’s no great, either. “What happened?” Naruto asks, because so far, no one’s felt the need to tell him.

Without looking at him, Sakura says, “A lot of really bad things,” and he knows that’s the best he’s going to get for now.

 

 

On the last night, Sasuke and Sakura sleep folded into each other, both ignoring how they’re shaking. No matter the number of times he’s scrubbed himself clean, he can still feel Karin’s blood drip off the wood onto his face. That girl had been the closest thing to a friend he could manage at one point, like the others, but she was just a stranger this time. She’d been weird, and even more temperamental than him, and not to mention too touchy, but her will to live was downright admirable. The fact that she sacrificed herself like that isn’t something he’s having an easy time getting his head around.

It’s been so long since they knew each other like that, though, that his memory’s confused, and he’s getting another one of those double images. The difference is that this time it doesn’t exist. He knows it was Karin, who was just as easily misguided as he was and died too young, but whenever he shuts his eyes, he sees Sakura instead.

When he presses his face into the bright pink of her hair, the arm she has thrown over him pulls him closer. “I love you,” she says, voice soft. “I know we’re—but just in case, I want you to know.”

People die on missions all the time, like Neji, like the two Kumo-nin, like Karin. Sasuke disconnected himself from his older life just to stay sane, but there’s still enough that he feels guilty he wasn’t able to give Karin what she wanted. If Madara attacks on the way home, they can easily die then, all of them. Sakura has a point with her _just in case._

“I love you, too,” he says, and tightens his grip on her as she does the same.

They don’t talk for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Neji and all, but there was no way they were getting out of that without casualties, and he dies canonically. For Karin, I was originally going to use an OC as the Jinchuruki, but then I remembered it takes a special kind of chakra, and as a Uzumaki, she has that. I always planned on bringing her back in, but not like this. 
> 
> So! I have a tumblr, which I just made, where I'll be posting updates on this and my other series. Now that school's started, there might be unforeseen delays, and if something's going to take me a while, I'll make note of it there. Here's the link:
> 
>  
> 
> [feathersandfoxes.](http://feathersandfoxes.tumblr.com)


	14. chapter xiii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke gets some much needed help, and bad missions have repercussions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Talk of rape. Nothing descriptive, but it's very, very direct.

Sasuke, exhausted, returns home and collapses for fourteen hours. He doesn’t even make it to his bedroom, and ends up on the couch.

When he wakes up, he’s alone, but by the time he’s out of the shower, Itachi’s there, calculating this month’s bills. He puts the pen down the moment Sasuke enters though, stands, and without a word, gives him a hug. How his brother heard, Sasuke doesn’t know, and he doesn’t really care, because Karin just died for him, but in another life he did kill Itachi. Right now Sasuke just needs to remind himself that Itachi’s alive. Giving up one reality for the other doesn’t mean his first one disappeared as much as Sasuke would like it to.

Eventually, they separate, and it felt like a longer time than it was. “How long’ve you been home?” he asks, keeping his voice surprisingly steady.

“About five hours,” Itachi answers, scrutinizing Sasuke’s face a bit too close. For once, he just doesn’t care. “It’s good you slept.”

Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but it does mean he has less time before he has to leave. “I have to go to the hospital in a few hours,” he says, looking away. “For a—for a standard psychological evaluation for having a teammate die.”

By tomorrow, Neji’s name will be added to the memorial stone, but the death Sasuke can’t get out of his head is Karin’s, and how he keeps seeing Naruto or Sakura whenever he shuts his eyes. The Hyuuga family’s never liked him much, a fault of having a stronger kekkei genkai mixed with being Naruto’s teammate, who managed to embarrass the clan honor twice in one chuunin exam. Now they’re going to _hate_ him. And he can’t stop hearing Hinata’s sobbing, either, because he’s so wrapped up in trying to save his own team that he didn’t even notice Neji had fallen until he was already dead.

Suddenly, Itachi’s pushing Sasuke to the couch, forcing his head down, and he hadn’t realized he was hyperventilating. “The first death is always hard,” his brother says softly, which only reminds Sasuke that more people are going to die because he can’t stop it.

But it’s more than just Karin and Neji, if Sasuke’s honest with him. He thought he’d been prepared to confront Madara again, whenever it happened. He’d be _so_ sure he could do it. But actually seeing him—actually looking into that mask—flooded him with enough adrenaline he’d forgotten how to think. It was worse than Orochimaru and Kabuto, because fuck, Sasuke’s actually pretty content with where his life is at the moment, and Madara has the power to rip it away from him just by looking him in the eye.

“Breathe, Sasuke,” Itachi says, and Sasuke tries. Then, “Do you want to talk about it?”

People, normally, just try to force him into talking, and he knows that if he says no, his brother will back off, but it comes out anyway. “I was just—scared,” he says, getting his breathing to something close to even. “I haven’t been scared like that in years, and I thought I’d gotten Sakura killed, and I actually _did_ get Neji killed, because there was this girl—I knew her, and they’d made her into a Jinchuruki, and I’d said I’d kill her, but, but—I really thought I was going to die, and she was just there, and—”

Itachi puts his hand on top of his head as the words give out, and Sasuke’s not supposed to admit he’s afraid. He doesn’t _get_ afraid. But then just _every time he shuts his eyes_ he feels like he’s reliving it all over again.

“No one knew what you were walking into, right?” Itachi says, and Sasuke shakes his head, though he thinks he should’ve. Why wouldn’t Madara be there? He can break a seal, and they already suspected a Jinchuruki was going to be there. “You were all unprepared. You’re allowed to be scared, Sasuke.”

Though Sasuke hasn’t directly talked about it with anyone, Sakura told Kakashi, and he implied the same thing. Still, Sasuke never wants to feel like that again, and now that Orochimaru’s dead, he thought he’d never have to. “He was targeting me, specifically,” he says, and Itachi shifts, sitting next to him. “I was blocking Karin’s seal from breaking. Neji, the Kumo-nin—they were just in the way.”

Even after sleeping fourteen hours, Sasuke feels so tired he thinks he could curl up and do it all over again. “On my first mission as an ANBU,” Itachi says, “half my squad was killed. Somehow, they knew I was there, and fought with their eyes wrapped so the Sharingan’s genjutsu capabilities were useless. They were Kiri-nin, too. Most used water based jutsu. My captain at the time took out all of them while I did nothing. Do you remember when you were six, and I was home for nearly a month?” Though he doesn’t, Sasuke nods. “That’s why. Death happens, and the higher the ranks you are, the more frequently your teammates die. The Hyuuga boy and the Kumo-nin knew what they were doing. I know the man you fought. It’s amazing any of you made it out at all.”

“He—after Karin,” Sasuke says. “After Karin, I stabbed him. It was enough to get away. If I’d just done that _earlier_ —”

“You managed to stab him?”

Again, he nods. “He does this thing. It’s like a time-space jump, but it’s not. I think he uses his Sharingan to shift his body in and out of Kamui, so, I don’t know. The others didn’t see it, but Amaterasu should’ve burned his whole body, so he completely flickered out of place. But something about Karin. He just didn’t. And I. I stabbed right through her and into him and then used a Chidori and electrocuted them.”

“Did any of your teammates see this?” Itachi asks.

Shrugging, Sasuke says, “Tenten was conscious, but she was distracted. She and Neji, they weren’t together, but they were something. I doubt it. Why?”

Itachi’s expression is the same one he made when he found out Sasuke was looking into old mission files. “Because if anyone finds out he managed to hurt him,” Itachi says, “then you’re going to be the one sent after him from now on.”

Between managing to hurt Madara this once, and having at least some past knowledge, Sasuke knows he should. Even so, the idea of having to go through this again is terrifying. “I don’t want to,” he says, because his brother knows Madara too, and will understand this isn’t an irrational reaction.

“Don’t say anything,” Itachi tells him. “That should be enough.”

Maybe killing one of the Tailed-Beasts will be enough to stop whatever Madara’s planning, or maybe not doing anything is leaving Sasuke a passive bystander. Whatever it is, he wouldn’t mind living out the rest of his life without ever seeing that mask again.

 

 

It’s the first snowfall of the year, and Neji’s funeral continues until Sakura’s covered almost to her knees.

Though the mission was supposed to be confidential, everyone somehow knows about it anyway. She, Sasuke, and Tenten all keep their heads low, but people talk. For Tenten, it’s sympathetic whispers not as quiet as they should be; for both Sakura and Sasuke, the gossip tends to stop the moment they come within range. She deals with it mostly at works for the patients she’s treating. Sasuke barely mentions it.

Naruto hasn’t given them more than small talk since they all got back.

By the time the ceremony’s over and everyone leaves, she can’t feel her body. Naruto’s with the rest of their age group, helping comfort Hinata, Tenten, and Lee, but even if no one’s saying it, the look Ino gave Sakura was enough to tell her she and Sasuke aren’t welcome.

This isn’t our fault, she wants to scream. We didn’t ask for the mission, we didn’t know we were going to get ambushed. I would’ve saved him if I weren’t half dead, too.

Maybe if she believed it, she even would say something, but it’s not true. She’s a medical-nin, and keeping people alive is what she’s supposed to do. When she started training, Tsunade said the number one most important thing next to healing was evasion, but Sakura hadn’t been fast enough. It was a simple miscalculation of her opponent’s speed that put her a state where she couldn’t help anyone. But instead she failed, and now here she is, alive, while it’s Neji’s name that’s getting carved into the memorial stone.

For her, it’s bad enough. For Sasuke, it’s worse. Kakashi told them that on his first mission as a jounin, one of his teammates was killed under his watch, but hearing it from one person hasn’t stopped everyone else from making a judgment call. The way people are treating him is like he’s one step away from going back on mental health probation. It doesn’t help that he’s blaming himself, too. 

She tries to catch Naruto’s attention, but his back’s to them. Giving up, she takes Sasuke’s hand, and pulls him away, leaving family and friends to grieve in peace.

Neither of them talk, and it’s better that way.

 

 

Of all the people in the village to not act like Neji’s death was Sasuke’s fault, Tsunade comes as a surprise. Considering the results of the evaluation, Sasuke thought his service was going to be terminated, not immediately called for. “You can’t be blamed for not having all the information,” she says when he comes to her office a full week after the funeral, “but people are angry, and when people are angry, they want something to fixate on. I’m giving Team Seven a mission until things blow over. Kakashi’s on something else, so you’re the squad leader for this.”

The mission is simple: locate Orochimaru’s old hideouts, and destroy them. If the Akatsuki got their hands on one of his old followers, they might know the locations, and Orochimaru had more than a few experiments or scrolls that shouldn’t pass on to anyone else. “There’s always a chance they got to the hideouts already,” Tsunade says, “but we should check anyway. Find Naruto and Sakura. Leave when you’re ready.”

Kakashi’s leaving soon with Jiraiya to check out the situation in Amegakure, which he shouldn’t have told Sasuke, probably, but did anyway. After what happened with Madara, even legendary sannin aren’t going after the Akatsuki alone. “Is there anything you want brought back?” Sasuke asks.

“Most of it shouldn’t see the light of day,” Tsunade answers, “but Summoning scrolls are always useful, as well as intelligence gathered on other villages. If it’s too much work looking for those, though, don’t waste time. Go to hideout on the scroll, figure out the rest, and burn all of them. I don’t want prisoners. Kill anyone who tries to stop you.”

Juugo and Suigetsu might be there, and after Karin, Sasuke doesn’t think he can handle even seeing them. “We’ll be gone by nightfall,” he says, and reminds himself there’s nothing in those hideouts that can hurt his team now.

 

 

By the time the first real day of the mission comes around, Team Seven goes back to something close to normal. Though Naruto knows what happened really wasn’t his friends’ faults, it still took a while to get his head around the fact that they actively participated in hunting down someone like him. Now it’s a little over two weeks later, Sakura’s starting to return to herself, he’s fitting himself back, and Sasuke isn’t as good at pretending as he thinks he is. Naruto can’t believe Tsunade’s sending _them_ to Orochimaru’s hideout after everything that happened three years ago.

Sasuke’s twitchy, and getting worse the closer they get. On the night before they reach the first hideout, Naruto waits until Sakura’s asleep before sitting himself down next to Sasuke, who’s taking first watch, and says, “If you freak out in there, we’ve got your back.”

“What makes you think I’m going to do something?”

As this is Sasuke, something’s bound to happen. Not only does he have the worst luck in the world, but last time he came in contact with one of Orochimaru’s little minions (which Naruto was around for, anyway), he had a reaction bad enough he ended up on probation. Even though Naruto considers himself an optimist, he’s not seeing how this is going to have a good outcome. It doesn’t help that Sasuke hasn’t been all that great since the last mission.

“You’ve looked like you’re expecting an ambush for the past three days,” Naruto answers. “But hey, if we do get ambushed, I think we can take them. We’ve beaten up enough of Orochimaru’s guys before, right?”

 For a long moment, Sasuke’s silent, just fiddling with a twig he plucked off the ground. “We’re not just fighting them,” he says, and the tip of the twig breaks. “Tsunade gave us a very specific order. ‘Kill everyone who gets in our way.’ I didn’t want to mention it until I had to.”

According to Jiraiya, you get desensitized from killing after a while, but Naruto hasn’t had the experience yet. “Why?”

Another piece of the twig snaps. “We’re going to be near Kusagakure for the first one,” Sasuke says, “and we’re going to have to burn a whole structure. What do you think a village would do if they found out another village was responsible for a fire as big as that’s going to be?”

“Oh. Right.” Probably no one’ll be there, though, Naruto thinks. Konoha would’ve known long before now if they were. “Seriously, though. If you aren’t so great with walking into the evil lair of the guy who wanted to take over your body, I get it.”

Normally Sakura’s the one to have a conversation like this, but just because she’s Sasuke’s girlfriend doesn’t mean Naruto should slack off on best friend duties. “You know I’m not completely incompetent, right?” Sasuke says. “I actually do know how to do my job. Even if I guess it doesn’t always look like I can.”

He’s scowling, probably thinking about the last mission, and Naruto skirts his own thoughts away from it. “Yeah, so what?” he says. “You’re still allowed to be creeped out. This is going to be creepy.”

“Yeah, but as usual, I’m the one to worry about, right?”

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t so—so—”

“So _what?_ ”

Naruto scrambles for a word and eventually says, “Inconsistent.”

It’s something he’s heard Kakashi use to Jiraiya before, and now that he’s actually said it, he realizes how accurate it is. Sasuke _is_ inconsistent, because he’ll go from, like, _happy_ to _this_ within a couple of weeks, and this just happens to be worse Naruto’s ever seen. Of course, he understands why, even if he really doesn’t want to, but Sakura’s going back to normal. Three weeks seems like a pretty average amount of time for “recovery,” but Sasuke’s still a mess. Before they’d left, he and Sakura were laughing outside the Academy, and now this is the most he’s said all at once in the past week they’ve been on the mission.

This was such a bad idea.

Surprisingly, Sasuke doesn’t argue. Instead, his scowl just deepens. “The medical-nin I did the psych eval with,” he says, “put in a suggestion for a further evaluation for the same thing. It didn’t even have to do with that, and still threw a label at me. ‘Severe mood changes.’”

That’s it, Naruto thinks. That’s exactly it, and it shouldn’t have taken a teammate dying in combat for Sasuke to get checked out. As much Naruto wants his friend to be here fighting alongside them, he cares about him more. “How’re you on a mission?” he says. “No offense, but I thought getting labeled meant probation.”

“Because I have the Mangekyo Sharingan,” Sasuke answers, “and it turns out Tenten did see me land a hit on Madara. She mentioned it during the secondary statement. Kakashi told me before we left. Basically, nothing short of death or disability is getting me out of service. Not that I’m complaining. I have it under control.”

“Have you told Sakura?” He nods, and Naruto tries not to feel left out. If he hadn’t been ignoring them, he probably would’ve found out earlier. “So, anyway, if you can’t, I don’t know, deal with something or whatever, we’ll just use explosive tags or something.”

Sasuke’s hand tightens, and the last of the twig finally snaps. “You aren’t on the usual list of people who like to make me talk,” he says. “What brought this on?”

“Because I remember the chuunin exams,” Naruto says, “and all the stuff that happened after. When did me asking you questions get weird?”

“It’s not,” Sasuke says. “I just don’t feel like hearing it from you, too.”

Like most shinobi, Naruto’s not so great at talking, but he gets that not talking is bad, too, and that’s why everyone’s been trying to force Sasuke into it. If they weren’t about to walk into Orochimaru’s hideout, Naruto might even drop it. “So, Sakura’s your girlfriend,” he says, “and last I checked, we’re best friends, right? Just don’t get all embarrassed if something in there freaks you out. Jiraiya’s described the guy to me, and it was awkward because they used to teammates, but I got enough that I’m guessing getting basically stalked by him for a couple of years sucked.”

This is a complete lie, because Jiraiya never said a thing. It makes sense that he would, though, and Sasuke seems to believe it, because he just slouches against the tree and says, “Fine. I might. I don’t know. Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up in four hours.”

“How about I take it first watch instead?” Naruto says, not tired enough that needs sleep now, and Sasuke looks like he does. “We’ll switch.”

It’s probably just to get away from the conversation, but Sasuke doesn’t argue. Instead, he unfurls the bedroll, and curls up close to Sakura. When he falls asleep right away, Naruto knows exactly how off his friend really is.

Severe mood changes, he called it, and Naruto just wonders why no one shoved Sasuke towards a psych eval earlier.

 

 

The three of them are in the empty hideout just long enough to collect the Summoning scrolls and the map to other locations before running out. All it takes is one run of Amaterasu through the tunnels, and everything inside collapses. Ten minutes later, and Sasuke extinguishes the flames.

Knowing he was returning was one thing, but actually entering was another. “Are they all going to be that bad?” Naruto says, and doesn’t look too happy himself.

Sasuke’s legs nearly give out, suddenly, and sits on the grass, trying to keep himself from a second panic attack. To his complete embarrassment, Naruto was right, and he couldn’t take it; they reached Orochimaru’s bedroom, and Sasuke couldn’t even make it inside the door.

“Probably,” Sakura says, but her voice sounds murky, distant. “I knew he was freaky, but petrified snakes in the _bedroom?_ We can just burn the rest. We found what we need, right, Sasuke?”

As the squad leader of the trip, he should be the one making that call, but he doesn’t feel bad when he just nods. This isn’t like his last mission—Team Kakashi’s a unit, and he’s not really in the position to lead anyone right now, not when he’s struggling to breathe normally. After seeing Madara again, he thought nothing else could affect him. By now, though, he’s learned that time doesn’t make things any easier, and choosing one life over the other doesn’t nullify his ability to remember the first.

His fear of snakes was an exaggerated excuse, but also just a bad reminder. Orochimaru wanted his body, so he never wanted to scar him, but there’re other ways to hurt a person. Since Sasuke grew up without anyone to explain anything to him, he get what was going on until it actually happened, the first time. He made it clear he didn’t want sex until he realized what he wanted didn’t matter. After, he just tired to look anywhere but Orochimaru’s face, which meant to walls, and all those shelves covered with bottles housing petrified snakes.

Last month, watching Karin die and running into Madara had been bad enough. For Sasuke, even with Orochimaru dead and the hideout, almost walking into the room he’d been raped in worse.

When Sakura’s there, in front of him, reaching out for a hug, Sasuke doesn’t have it in him to move. Her pink hair ends up in his face, and she’s something solid and real and _there._

He can feel his heart rate slowing already.

It might not’ve been long enough for the memory to go away, but it’s been long enough for him to be comfortable with this. “In a minute?” Naruto says, even though Sasuke knows they should leave now, because the smoke’s rising, and it’ll attract attention soon.

“Yeah,” Sakura says for him. “In a minute.”

They wait, and Sasuke wonders what the hell he ever did to deserve two people like this.

 

 

In the Sound Country, they find a booby trap to set off, and get to watch the base destroy itself through flooding. In the hideout located in the near Yugakure, they encounter a mass of Orochimaru’s followers, somehow still alive, who instantly transition into their cursed seal state. For as good as Sakura and her friends are, she knows they can’t hold off everyone forever, not when Sasuke’s already used Amaterasu twice in one day to burn the structure itself.

Naruto says, “I can summon to get out of here!” but where’s a frog supposed to bring them? Into the smoldering wreckage of an old prison?

Then Sasuke’s reaching into her pack, pulling out a Summoning scroll, which would be a brilliant idea if Summoning was something the Sharingan could copy, and it was legal. “I have an idea,” he says. “Cover me for a second.”

“But—”

“Orders?”

Jounin or not, there’s no way she would follow something that stupid if it weren’t for the grey flying person with the fleshy sword coming right towards her. Sasuke bites his thumb, and that’s all she sees before she’s too preoccupied.

However much time passes, Sakura isn’t sure, but she and Naruto are both throw forward by a gust of wind from something’s flapping wings. “His name’s Garuda and we just made a deal,” Sasuke says, petting the birds beak, and looking much too calm for this situation. “Get on, and we’ll be able to leave.”

With Orochimaru’s experiment-prisoners-followers still coming for them, Sakura doesn’t have the time to think about how illegal this is before grabbing Naruto’s hand and dragging him along. The hawk lowers himself more gracefully than Tsunade’s slug, setting out his wing as a ramp for them to climb on. A moment later, Sasuke jumps, landing on the bird’s neck like he’s used to this, and Garuda takes off.

“Circle low,” Sasuke says. “I’ll finish this.”

A third Amaterasu in one day is dangerous, but she’s used to her boyfriend being irresponsible, and by the time he uses his right eye to get rid of the fire, no one’s left alive. Sighing, he lies on his back, arm over his eyes, and scratches lightly at where the hawk’s wing meets his body. “Thank you,” he says. “You can take us to the field you want to hunt in now.”

Later, she decides. She can yell at him later for illegally using a scroll technically meant for the village archives. For now, she’s just going to enjoy the fact that they’ve all made it out alive.    

 

 

Whether Juugo and Suigetsu made it out of the hideouts is something Sasuke could only find out if he went looking, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just hopes they did, and with the exception of the last two built underground, burns the hideouts and whoever’s potentially in them from above.

Getting back Garuda is a bigger relief than he thought it would be, but something good had to come out of this mission. Sakura can’t seem to decide if she’s angry at him for it or not. On one hand, his last second contract saved their lives, but on the other, this was violating the terms of the mission. Then again, as Naruto pointed out, it’s not like Tsunade said they _couldn’t_ make their own contract, but Sasuke’s on risky enough ground as it is. He doesn’t need to make it worse.

Even half angry with him, though, Sakura doesn’t complain when Garuda brings them almost all the way back to Konoha from the Iron Country. “My parents are going to kill us for being gone this long,” she says, stretching, as Garuda flies back into the air and disappears. “Remember the last time we were gone for more than a couple of weeks, Sasuke?”

It doesn’t matter that the two of them are fifteen, and Naruto’s sixteen; Sakura’s parents will probably continue to act like they need home cooked meals and comfortable blankets for the rest of their lives. “I have to go home first,” Sasuke says. “Itachi’ll have gotten his last treatment last week, I think. I’ll take the second round of your mom’s lecture later.”

“Do you think Kakashi and Jiraiya are back yet?” Naruto says, opening up a bag of kenpi they bought at the village they visited before Sasuke summoned Garuda. “Want any?”

Though Sasuke shakes his head, Sakura reaches her hand in and pulls out a handful of stalks. “Investigation missions usually don’t take that long,” she says. “But I guess it _is_ the Akatsuki. I can’t wait until I have access to a nice, long, heated shower again.”

As often as they clean themselves off in rivers and lakes along the way from hideout to hideout, none of them have been able to get rid of smell of smoke. It doesn’t bother Sasuke, but it bothers the others. He wants a shower, too, though, for his own reasons. This whole mission’s caused a renewed round of nightmares, and maybe properly cleaning himself will get rid of the constant feeling of violation.

Sakura’s noticed. During the day, he can deal with it, but right when he wakes up, he’s not so good with getting touched. It won’t be long until she brings it up, and unlike Itachi, she doesn’t give him a chance to back out. As much as he loves her, that’s something he could do without.

“Anyway,” she says before either he or Naruto can answer. “Sasuke, I need to heal your eyes. Now or later?”

At the moment, his vision’s only a little blurry, not even enough to bother him, because she healed him a couple of weeks ago. “I can wait until we have to set up camp,” he tells her. “We should get as much travelling out of the way as we can.”

It’s also an excuse to put off sleeping, for a while. After the hideout in the Wave Country, where Karin used to work, he ended up going a few nights awake, which was good, because he doesn’t mind not sleeping on missions no matter what Kakashi seems to think.  After the one in the Frost Country, though, all his body’s wanted to do is sleep. He wouldn’t mind, if he weren’t on a mission, and if he weren’t having nightmares. Mornings are annoying.

“I want Ichiraku,” Naruto says, pulling another kenpi from the bag. “Can we go to Ichiraku after Mebuki-san yells at us, and you go see that Itachi’s okay? Or can we make it a celebration that your brother’s all okay and everything and get take out and bring it over and maybe have cake?”

“Kakashi can come, too,” Sasuke says. “He needs to get out of the apartment more. This means Itachi’s getting his full citizenship back, too.”

He wanted to be there for that, but he doesn’t think anyone in Konoha anticipated how long this was going to take. The scroll  Tsunade gave him said Orochimaru had a suspected three hideouts, which Sasuke knew wasn’t true, but he’d forgotten exactly how far apart they were. Without Garuda, this would’ve taken twice the amount of time. As illegal as that was, he doesn’t regret it. Now he just hopes he’s allowed to keep the contract.

When Naruto reaches the last of the bag, he sighs, crumbling it up and puts it back into his pack. “The worst thing about missions is the food,” he says. “Next time we go on a mission that takes almost two months, I’m bringing instant ramen and making it over a fire if I have to.”

For all of them, this is longest mission they’ve ever had. The search for Itachi took a while, but that was a lot of come and go, so at least Sasuke would still spend a week or so at a time in Konoha. As a jounin, this won’t be the last long term mission he has, and he supposes he should just be glad that this time, at least he has Sakura and Naruto with him.

 

 

First, Sakura sees the smoke. Then comes the cracked wood of the wall, and finally, inside’s the fighting.

Seven weeks, she thinks. We’ve been gone seven weeks and the Akatsuki attacks.

Half of the village is already destroyed, and there’re six guys in black cloaks with red clouds running around. Not all the civilians made it out of the main streets and into the safe residential areas in the hills, Sakura realizes instantly, because otherwise a Susanoo that’s definitely not Sasuke’s wouldn’t have to be guarding a bunch of school children.

Immediately, Naruto glows red with the Kyuubi’s chakra, angry at the sight of his home village overrun, and Sasuke activates his Mangekyo Sharingan as they head towards the nearest Akatsuki member. Itachi explained all of them, so from the swirled grey eyes Sakura recognizes the attacker as Pein, but that doesn’t mean she knows how to fight him. But they’re Team Seven, fighting together, and Sasuke must’ve talked to his brother in greater detail, so they have to have some sort of advantage.

“Naruto, find Tsunade,” he says. “She might need you.”

“What? I’m not leaving you—”

“I’ll have Sakura, _go._ ”

Surprisingly, their friend really does leave, but then they’re both thrown back by nothing, slammed into the wall of a weapons’ shop, and sending Naruto away was good, because she doesn’t know how they’re going to survive this one.

 

 

Sasuke stands inside his friend’s seal, across from him, the Yondaime, and the Kyuubi almost entirely out of its cage. “What’re you _doing_ here?” Naruto says, spinning around. “You’re—Sasuke, this is going to kill you.”

A minute ago, Sakura did die, fell right at Sasuke’s feet with her stomach ripped apart, and then Naruto disappeared inside the image of a fox. Kakashi’s dead. According to Tsunade, Jiraiya has been for a while. Sasuke doesn’t know where his brother is. All they have left is this one version of Pein against the two of them, but Sasuke’s not letting Kakashi and Sakura die just so Naruto can give in to the Kyuubi’s chakra, and not make it out. He’s not falling into the hands of the Akatsuki because he lost control, and Sasuke couldn’t protect him.

He hadn’t expected anyone else’s help.

“Yeah, whatever,” he says. “When you find this guy, kill for us, okay? Konoha might even make you Hokage for it. Looks like it runs in the family.”

Naruto puts his hands on Sasuke’s shoulders, actually crying, and he can’t feel it, exactly, but he still knows when his body gives out. Somehow, his mind lingers another moment or so, and this final projection of the Yondaime must know it, too, because he just looks to Sasuke, sad smile on his face, and says, “Thank you for taking care of my son.”

Nothing exists, after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was literally only able to finish this because two of my professors cancelled class today.


	15. chapter xiv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone wakes up, and things get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for an actual sit down discussion of rape. I'm just going to put this in the tags. It wasn't supposed to be brought up this much. 
> 
> Anyway, I know this chapter is short, and I know it isn't much. I just wrote four essays in a row and did three reader responses on top of planning a presentation for tomorrow. Part of what spawned both this, and the last installment of my other story, is that literally two the reader responses and one essay was on fairy tales and rape/sexual assault. I'm so done already.

Sasuke has a gash in his side and a tear down the outer seam of his pants letting in the cold hair and drifting snow. Beneath his feet, the ground is cracked—crushed, like something hit it hard. The Raikage’s here, crackling with electricity around his body, and next to him Gaara, arms crossed, with Temari and Kankuro at his sides. Several shinobi are fighting back Suigetsu and Juugo, pushing them away to broken columns, and in the distance, Sasuke sees Karin skulking in the shadows. He doesn’t recognize the location.

As he pulls himself to his feet, his vision whites out before abruptly snapping back into focus, and he falls to knees. The Raikage says, Feeling the effects now, boy?

This is wrong. As some sort of annoying joke, the Raikage’s always just called Sasuke Little Uchiha. “Clearly,” he answers, blinking rapidly as the ground beneath him blurs in and out. “Where’s my team?”

From off by the columns, Suigetsu shouts, Oh, don’t mind us, it’s not like we’re right here or anything.

Something’s not right, Gaara says. This isn’t the same Sasuke as before. Look at his eyes.

Oh, the Mangekyo Sharingan must’ve been activated, Sasuke realizes, but when he tries, he feels nothing. It’s not chakra exhaustion, either, because he doesn’t feel any telltale sign of depletion. Gaara’s right, though, in saying something’s not right, because even if Sasuke just hit his head so hard it’s causing a sudden lapse in memory, he legally isn’t allowed to go on missions with his team. His team doesn’t consist of the ones here, not anymore. It can’t, because at least Karin’s dead, and likely the others, too.

A sudden pain rips through him, starting in his chest and rippling through the rest of his body. When he looks down, he sees red spreading across his shirt. “Sakura,” he says, voice wet with blood. “I need Sakura.”

You betrayed her, Sasuke, Temari says. Why would she ever want to look at you again?

Then everyone stops, and after his hazy vision focuses again, he watches Karin walk directly through the Raikage. There’s blood across her chest, too, fabric torn and body ripped through, her mangled heart visible and shards of bone slipping out with every step. Her glasses are cracked, and the bite marks across her body bleeding. 

He takes a step back, catching his ankle on cracked stone, and collides with Juugo. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m sorry,  I could’ve saved you and I didn’t and I’m sorry, I’m—”

Wake up, she says, words as broken as her body. Sasuke-kun, wake up.

The world dissolves into the stormy mountainside of a lifetime ago, and Itachi’s there, dying, from wounds Sasuke inflicted. I’m sorry, Sasuke, his brother says, but it’s time to wake up.

Itachi’s fingers tap his forehead, and Sasuke wakes screaming.

 

 

If Naruto’s reflexes weren’t so quick, the Chidori needles Sasuke releases upon waking would be imbedded in his stomach. “I have no idea what happened,” Naruto says, looking to the Itachi as the door to his friend’s bedroom swings open. “He hasn’t done something like this since we were Academy students.”

When Naruto tries to move towards him again, Itachi holds out his arm. “The Sharingan’s not just for show right now,” he says before taking a seat on the bed in front of his brother. Naruto stays where he is by the wall, worried and trying to pretend he hadn’t narrowly avoided death by nightmare. “He’s using it.”

As kids, Naruto and Sasuke had a tendency to fall asleep either at the compound or the apartment because they either lost track of time, or didn’t feel like walking around alone at night. Naruto’s seen some pretty horrifying reactions to waking up—screaming, the kunai Sasuke keeps under his pillow thrown, more than once the Sharingan getting activated. Over time, though, the massacre and other still unnamed events might’ve continued to screw with his head, but he recovered enough that those nightmares were replaced by a rational hatred of mornings everyone but Sakura shares. Seeing this before just makes it worse, though, because the last time Naruto’s aware of his friend doing something like this they were _ten._ He hadn’t even done this on the mission, and he spent half of that a complete mess.

Dying was inevitably going to leave an impression. For some reason, Naruto hadn’t seen this one happening.

Itachi activates his Sharingan, too, and though neither of them say anything, whatever he does works. Though Naruto knows Itachi isn’t a threat, he almost reacts anyway; Sasuke’s his friend, and he’s had his head screwed with enough. A moment later, his eyes close again, he stops being so tense, and then he collapses against his brother. By the time Naruto’s over to them, Sasuke’s awake again, sitting up slowly and blinking sleep out of his eyes.

“You’re all right,” Itachi says quickly as Sasuke jolts backwards, hitting against the wall. “Sasuke, you’re—”

When he reaches out, Naruto almost stops him, but decides Itachi can take care of himself. His fingers knock against Sasuke’s forehead, and he instantly calms down. “What happened?” he says, looking around the room. “I was—then you—what? I thought I was dead.”

With a quick glance at Itachi, Naruto says, “You sort of were? It’s confusing. I found Pein and, like, talked him into reviving everyone, but it didn’t work on you.”

For some reason, like Tsunade, Sasuke didn’t wake up with everyone else. Unlike Tsunade, though, he didn’t try to heal an entire village, and he’s not the only one who was so severely injured it didn’t make sense he miraculously healed. The only way Naruto can explain it is that his friend’s conscious was out of his body at the time, since he was trying to help with controlling the seal. So, his body was healed, but that’s it, and there isn’t even a real hospital yet to put him in. The fact that he lives in the residential area is the only reason his apartment wasn’t totally decimated.

 While the idea of Sasuke not waking up ever is bad enough on the own, knowing it was because he was trying to help was worse. Naruto would give up his dream of being Hokage in a heartbeat if it meant life or death for one of his friends, and the past day and a half, he thought this was his fault. Now he knows how Sasuke feels about the mission in the Lightning Country, and doesn’t like it.

“Sakura’s all right, too,” Itachi says quickly as his brother’s mouth opens in question. “As is Kakashi. Sakura’s at the makeshift hospital right now—wounds might’ve been healed, but bones and such were broken again for people caught under the wreckage.”

Sasuke presses the heels of his palms to his eyes, and his elbows to his knees, doing that thing he does when he’s on the verge of panicking where he tries to breathe right. It was a lot for Naruto to take in, too, and he wasn’t even dead. “How long have been out?”

“A couple of days,” Naruto says, and decides they’ll tell him about Kakashi getting elected temporary Hokage later. “Pretty much everyone else is fine.”

Though Naruto’s not lying, he feels like he is. “It was just a dream,” he hears his friend say, so quiet it’s more a thought than anything else, and decides he really doesn’t want to know.

 

 

To say Kakashi doesn’t want to be Hokage is an understatement, but he knows there’s no one else, and accepts the position. Hopefully Tsunade wakes up soon, because he never was one for politics.

The Summit is a full five days away, so he’ll be gone a month at the minimum. If Sasuke hadn’t just woken up, and if Kakashi wasn’t genuinely afraid of what Sakura’s mother might do to him, he’d bring his team along as his guards. Without that out of the question, he decides on Gai and Tenzo, and they don’t seem much more enthusiastic than he feels. That’s saying something, coming from Gai.

Right before they leave, Sasuke shows up, materializing at his front door with his face still a little too pale, but mostly back to normal. “Naruto said you leaving,” he says when Kakashi lets him in. “So. Hokage. Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

“I taught you brats for three years,” Kakashi says. “Even all of Konoha is going to be easy compared to that. How’re you feeling?”

With a shrug, Sasuke answers, “Okay, I guess. I haven’t had a chance to Sakura yet, though, so, uh, this isn’t going to come out right, but did you see anything weird right before you came back?”

Everyone was revived with some story of their own, but Kakashi’s keeping the meeting with his father to himself. That’s for him, and him alone. “A lot of people saw people they knew who’ve died, too,” he says, and lets Sasuke take that how he will. “Friends, family, someone they killed on a mission. Is that what you mean?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I just wasn’t sure. Naruto and Itachi said it’s been different for me.”

Kakashi managed to get to Sasuke last, when all said and done, and everyone else had already been awake for a few hours. According to Sakura, he was physically normal. It was just that he wouldn’t regain consciousness, and they didn’t know when he would. “They’re right,” Kakashi says, “but in this case, no, everyone went through something similar. Tell Sakura I expect Tsunade to be awake by the time I return. I can’t be responsible forever.”

As he has no intention of reciprocating, he doesn’t ask Sasuke who he saw. His family, Kakashi assumes, or either Neji or the Jinchuruki girl, because Sasuke would be more jumpy than this if it was something bad. “If you say anything stupid, I’m sure Gaara will cover for you,” he says, and then pauses. “Do you need anyone else? Because it’ll only take me about ten minutes to go see Sakura and get ready.”

“Did something happen?”

Sasuke, especially right now, given how long his last mission was and that he watched Sakura would die, would never give up the chance to spend time with his girlfriend to go to the Iron Country instead. “What?” he says. “No. I just—have a bad feeling about this.”

After the past few months, Kakashi would be worried if he didn’t. “Go take a few weeks with everyone,” he says. “Missions are suspended until this over. Gai’s coming. You don’t want to be there for that. I’ll be back for Sakura’s birthday.”

“Right,” Sasuke says. “Be careful, all right?”

“Aren’t I always?” Kakashi pulls his pack over his shoulder, and says again, “Tell Sakura I’ll be back for her birthday.”

When he heard what he needed to do, he was annoyed, but not all that nervous. Now Sasuke’s looking at him, though, worry clear on his face, and Kakashi feels the first flutters of anxiety take root.

 

 

Sakura kisses Sasuke when she sees him, completely unashamed despite Sai and Shizune standing right there. It’s their first real one since before his panic attack at Orochimaru’s first hideout, too, and is a bigger relief than she imagined it would be. “I knew you’d wake up,” Sakura says, smiling in relief, and thinks that if Sasuke can, then Tsunade can, too. “I thought you promised not to worry me like that again.”

“Isn’t that a little hypocritical?” he asks, grip on her tightening lightly as Naruto enters the tent. “Sorry.”

It’s one of the most halfhearted apologies she’s ever heard, but she’ll let it pass for now. “What is it, Naruto?” Sai says, and Sakura and Sasuke separate, but he stays hovering at her side.

“A whole group of Kumo-nin just arrived,” he says, and glancing at the two of them. “Said something about returning a favor.”

His voice drops on the last few words, and for the first time since the last mission begin, an awkward tension settles around them. It’s different than before, though—not aimed at them, necessarily, but for them, and she appreciates the sentiment more than he knows. “Anyone else?” Shizune says. “At least some construction workers must’ve answered.”

Shrugging, Naruto says, “Didn’t really check. It’s just that a few of the Kumo-nin were asking for you guys and Tenten. I was talking to Shikamaru. He’s getting her.”

“Go,” Shizune says, smile small. “I can watch Tsunade-sama on my own for a little while.”

Sakura wants to make several dozen excuses, avoid the Kumo-nin as much as possible, and never be reminded about that day ever again, but then they’re being pushed out of the tent. If they’re going to do this, then they’re going to do this with dignity, she decides, and can’t help but feel a little less anchored when Sasuke drops his hand from his back.

 

 

After an incredibly awkward meeting with a bunch of Kumo-nin about Sakura, Sasuke, and Tenten saving their village, especially at the expensive of one of their own team members, Sakura and Naruto plan an intervention. If it weren’t for the invasion, they would’ve done it earlier, but the mission destroying Orochimaru’s hideouts really brought up something they can’t ignore. Sasuke’s reaction was one she hasn’t seen since around the time of his probation, and she would’ve had the conversation about it then, if that were appropriate. She’ll have to make do with now.

Before she and Naruto can sit Sasuke down, though, they’re introduced by two familiar, but welcome faces. “I _told_ you, Grandpa,” Inari says, grinning and dragging Tazuna towards the three of them. “There’s no one else with pink her hair.”

Her family tree would object to that, but she doesn’t bother to correct him. “Hey,” Naruto says, matching the boy’s enthusiasm. “Are you here as the carpenters?”

“After everything your team did for us?” Tazuna answers, putting his arm around his grandson. “Our village owes yours everything. Look at the two of you! You’re taller than me now.”

“Isn’t it horrible?” Sakura says, grabbing both their hands. “It looks like Inari’s taller than me, too. How old are you now? Twelve?” He nods, grinning again. “Good luck, Tazuna-san. Boys at that age.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Sasuke says as Naruto protests too, and she rolls her eyes, much to their visitors’ amusement. “How’s the village doing without Gato in control?”

They make idle, but nice conversation, and despite everything, Sakura feels lighter than she has in months.

 

 

In the aftermath of Pein’s attack and dying, Sasuke forgot what a mess the last mission was. When Sakura brings him over to her place, empty since her parents are helping out around the village, everything comes flooding back, and he can’t think his way out of his one.

“I know you don’t want to talk, ever,” she says, sitting with him on the bed, “but, well—me and Naruto, we noticed, and we’re worried, and if there’d be anyone else on that mission, that wouldn’t have been good.”

While, yeah, it’s true, he’d really rather never talk about anything involving Orochimaru to anyone, the bigger problem is that he doesn’t want to lie, not to her. He avoids it as much as possible, even if omission is technically lying too, and it really doesn’t help that he’s never technically talked about this to begin with. “With everything that’s going on,” he says, surprisingly steady, “something that happened years ago is the least of our problems.”

“No, it’s really not,” Sakura says. “You’re my boyfriend, Sasuke. Before that, we were best friends for years. You’re never going to be the least of my problems. Naruto would say the same thing if he were here.”

“So the two of you already talked about this?”

“Of course! I wasn’t just going to jump into this with nothing.”

Kakashi knows, sort of. Sasuke had a feeling Sakura guessed, but he hadn’t thought Naruto would’ve. Forcing down the panic and irritation, Sasuke says, “It’s not important. Can we wait until the village is fixed for this?”

Shaking her head, Sakura says, “No, because then something else will come up, and we’ll be stuck doing that, because you’re too good for anyone risk losing you over. We don’t care if you need a minute on a mission as long as you’re all right afterward, but if someone else had seen that, they would’ve told, and then Tsunade would have to do something about it, and I _know_ you don’t want that. And don’t say you’re doing a good job ignoring it, because you’re not.”

Even if she does have a point, he’s not willing to admit it. “Sakura, we just _died_ less than a week ago,” he says. “I’m still trying to get my head around that you got stabbed and it didn’t have a permanent effect. Comparatively, this isn’t important at all.”

As much as this is true, and as much he’s spent the past couple days staring at her, reminding himself she’s alive, he’d give just about anything to be out of this room right now. He wasn’t expecting it; he wasn’t able to set himself up with any way to avoid it. There’s no way to think his way out of this without outright lying.

“Really?” she says. “So whatever this is doesn’t bother you?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Then why can’t you tell me?”

Her arms are crossed, face set with determination, and unfortunately, he doesn’t have an answer to that. “Fine, maybe it does bother me,” he says, not looking at her, “but not all the time. I just—I can’t.”

She pauses for a moment before asking, “Would you talk to someone else?”

Really, he doesn’t get it, everyone’s obsession with getting him to talk. It stopped for a while, or slowed down anyway, but it’s reemerged since the mission in Kumo, and he isn’t appreciating it. At least Itachi asks first. “No,” he says. “Why is this so important to you?”

“Because it just is,” Sakura says, eyebrow twitching. “Excuse me for not liking to see you upset. I just didn’t know how to ask because, well, I knew this would get you upset too, but those panic attacks aren’t just going to go away. Me and Naruto decided I’d be the one to ask because we figured I’d be the one you’re mostly likely talk to, but I’d be fine with getting him if that would help.”

“I just told you, it won’t,” he says. “Ask Kakashi if you want to know so much. He figured it out years ago.”

With a slight frown, she says, “ _I’ve_ already figured it out—or at least I think I have. I also think you need to say it yourself.”

“How’s that going to change anything?”

“I don’t know! Medical-nin always say how talking helps, though.”

He sighs, running his fingers through his hair, and thinks it over. “I’ve never actually,” he says, then stops. For some reason, it never occurred to him that there would be a point where he wouldn’t be able to dodge out of this particular unwanted conversation, but even if he stops this now, someone will come to him about it later. “I was,” he tries again. “I was—before I met you but after the—and I don’t really. I was raped.”

It’s the first time he’s ever said it out loud, and it feels just as horrible as he imagined. Remembering it is bad enough, and putting it to words doesn’t make him feel any better. Thankfully, Sakura doesn’t press for details, knowing him enough to decipher his half-sentences. Satisfied? he thinks, but doesn’t say it, because that’s fair, and even if it was, he doesn’t have the energy for indignation. He still doesn’t get the point of forcing this conversation, either.

When she kisses his cheek, he doesn’t flinch away. “I’m not going to ask what set you off,” she says, “but if it happens again, don’t just ignore it until you stop sleeping.”

According to Kakashi, Sasuke’s insomnia’s going to get him killed one day. Though he tells himself he won’t let this happen again—Orochimaru’s dead, his hideout’s burned, Sasuke’s too agile to be pinned—he still nods. “Okay,” he says, and Sakura finally leaves the conversation to lie for another day.

 

 

One of Kakashi’s nin-dogs delivers the news of Madara declaring a Fourth Shinobi War, the world against him alone, and for as powerful as the man is, Itachi still has to wonder how he thinks he’s ever going to accomplish that.

With Pein gone, Konan surely defected, as Itachi did; the rest of the Akatsuki all died within the past three years. Kisame’s death is still an uncertainty (and one Itachi is privately grieving over, in the small way he’ll allow himself to), but even he can’t survive decapitation, which is the reported cause. If Madara had the means to enact his original plan, then yes, a move like this would be rash but not out of the realm of possibility. Killing a Jinchuruki, though, also kills the Tailed-Beast inside of him or her, and from what Sasuke described, his friend Karin was stabbed twice, then electrocuted. Surviving that is only slightly more likely than decapitation.

As Konoha’s unofficial informant on all matters involving the Akatsuki, Itachi sits through a very long meeting in a stuffy tent with a group of jounin, explaining what he thinks might be going on. “Zetsu isn’t much of a front-lines fighter,” he says, “but if he finds a way to duplicate himself multiple times, then Madara will have his army to fight rest of us long enough to go after Naruto and the man in Kumo. He’s powerful enough on his own, but no man is so strong that he can take on the world alone.”

Ibiki, sitting at the other end of the tent, says, “He could be conscripting missing-nin again.”

“Doubtful,” Itachi says. “Most missing-nin defect because they don’t do well with teams.”

No one argues with the ex-missing-nin on the matter of missing-nin, at least, saving him the need to think of a more compelling argument. Then Sasuke, who’s spent the majority to meeting trying to make himself as unnoticed as possible, suddenly says, “What if he’s waiting for his front line fighters to come to him?”

            With that, the low muttering in tent goes silent, and everyone turns to look at him. “He just declared war against the _world_ ,” Genma says, “and you think he thinks enough people are going to willing follow him to make a difference against that?”

            Sasuke glances once at Itachi, who’s trying not to do the same himself every few minutes, and sits straighter. As often as he hears people say what a wonderful shinobi his brother is, he’s never seen Sasuke interact with anyone outside of a select few. “My team was just out for the past seven weeks,” he says, “destroying Orochimaru’s old hideouts. Most of them were laboratories, and still had people inside. Hundreds of them. How many of you have fought against an Oto-nin who turned into something inhuman-looking after activating their cursed seals? We killed as many as we could, and I burned the rest, but some might’ve survived, or they might be others out there. You won’t find another group that so consistently hates everyone than one of Orochimaru’s followers. They’ll flock to someone claiming he can destroy the world.”

Though Sasuke’s described the experience of fighting against a few of these before, Itachi can’t say he’s done so himself. Several faces in the tent go pale, though, and Anko looks as though she’s about to be sick. “Well,” she says, “that would definitely be distracting enough for Madara to go do something crazy.”

“Do you think he’ll make another one of his own Jinchuruki?” a jounin Itachi doesn’t know asks. “Everyone saw what Naruto was able to do. Madara could have that kind of power boost in how many?”

“Again, I don’t think so,” Itachi says. “Losing one shows he can he lose the others. He won’t risk that. Unless there’s something he can do that I’m unaware of, which is always a possibility, then likely his troops will consist of what’s left of Orochimaru’s.”

Without Kakashi here, or the Godaime awake, they can’t strategize, and this is no means concrete, but there is a certain measure of security in knowing they have a logical prediction. Itachi never had particularly fond feelings for Madara, and while the inevitability of war is a painful thing, the thought of him no longer being able to harm the world isn’t so terrible.

 

 

A few hours before Kakashi comes back, Tsunade wakes up, and Sakura’s so relieved she could cry. “So this is really happening?” she says when they get a moment alone. “We’re mobilizing the whole world?”

Earlier, Tsunade, the ANBU, and the jounin all gathered together and talked, leaving Sakura and Naruto to occupy themselves. When Sasuke came out, he didn’t meet either of their eyes, and both Kakashi and Itachi said something about classified information. As her apprentice, though, Sakura’s hoping she might be able to get something. There’s nothing worse than being kept in the dark.

Tsunade, for once, doesn’t look up from the paperwork presented in front of her. “That’s what we’re trying for,” she answers. “Exact troops won’t be decided on until I can meet with the other Kage. They’ll be mixed. But Sakura, you’re with the Uchiha brothers.”

“Because of their eyes?” She nods. “Oh. What about Naruto?”

With a scowl, she says, “That depends on the others. I’m sorry, Sakura, but this is the most specific I can get with you at this time. Go spend time with your team before you’re doing it on a battlefield.”

Sakura hesitates for a moment before saying, “One more question. How are you feeling, Tsunade-sama?”

“I’m fine, Sakura,” Tsunade says, voice edged with exasperation. “It’ll take more than that to do me in. Shizune said you were stabbed.”

Stabbed is something of an understatement, but Sakura’s not going to flash the ridiculous number of scars to show Tsunade exactly how much. “Well, there weren’t any bad side effects to being brought back to life, apparently,” Sakura says. “I was all right by the next morning.”

“Good. Then I expect to see you here tomorrow at six.”

Holding back a sigh, she says, “Yes, Tsunade-sama. Have a good evening.”

As she leaves, she hears the unmistakable sound of sake being poured, and knows that for Tsunade, this is going to be a long night.

 

 

I didn’t wake up from dying just for this, Sasuke thinks as he sits across the table from his brother, both picking unenthusiastically at their food. Right now his team’s meeting, but he’d rather hide from the world than face it, and Itachi doesn’t even bother lecturing him on how he needs to go anyway.

“You need to eat,” Itachi says, breaking a solid half hour of silence, and he’s barely touched his food, too. “I hear war rations are terrible.”

The last thing Sasuke wants to think about is what he’s going to eat on the front, because of course they’re getting sent to the front. “When I said I didn’t want to go after Madara,” he says, keeping his eyes focused on the udon he’s supposed to eating, “I didn’t mean having you along with me to willingly throw ourselves at him.”

Sending the two born Sharingan-users after the man who wants world domination through a massive illusion is a good idea, logically, but that doesn’t mean Sasuke can pull a second miracle and hit him again. “We’ll think of something,” Itachi says, the conviction in his voice not quite there. “And we’ll be able to do it together.”

Sasuke had been hoping for a mission with his brother eventually. Instead he got a war. “I went through a lot of trouble getting you back here, you know,” he says. “Please don’t get killed.”

“Only if you promise the same,” Itachi answers, which is a problem, because Sasuke knows he can’t. “It was very…difficult, thinking you weren’t going to wake like the rest.

“I promise,” he says, and thinks that if it’s a lie, at least it’s a good one.


	16. chapter xv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole world is at war, and no one can figure out Madara's plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, so, as you can see, it's almost done. I really wanted to end with something other than the war arc, but I couldn't think of a better way. There will be an epilogue, since I had a prologue. I had a lot of fun with this series, and I hope you guys did, too. 
> 
> A lot happens in this chapter, and yet not whole lot at the same time. You'll see what I mean.

Sakura turns sixteen the first day of war. Two days ago Mom and Dad bought made her cake, and it was for a goodbye present, and a message to return home safe, not because she’s passing into legal, general adulthood.

Happy birthday to me, she thinks, looking to her team, all huddled around discussing strategies to get themselves killed. My present is we’re all in the same division.

Before she and Tsunade separate for what might be the duration of the conflict, Sakura received her final, additional orders: make sure her boyfriend and his brother don’t go blind while trying to assassinate the enemy leader. Yeah, awesome. Their ability to navigate a battlefield is going to rest entirely on her, and unfortunately, while she trusts Sasuke’s skill as a shinobi (and Itachi’s too, she supposes), Madara is like nothing she’s ever seen. Last time it took a girl sacrificing herself for all of them to survive. Maybe together the two of them can do it, but what if one of them gets cornered? Sakura doubts Madara’s going to be stupid enough to walk into the field himself, which means they’re going to have to go to him, and “they” means her, too. She’s so done with Sasuke having to risk his life and the mission, trying to save her, and Madara stabbed almost her fatality once before while her punch went right through him as though he weren’t there.

Declaring a war against the whole world is still suicide, in her opinion, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to make it through this. Even so, that doesn’t mean he can’t take out the last of his family, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, Sai, her, and who knows how many others in the process. Someone who can move in and out dimensions isn’t going to be easy to beat.

She should be over there by her team, helping them plan instead of sulking all on her own and making herself anxious, but she’s sixteen today. The mandatory “happy birthdays” were painful to hear, and just this morning she, Sasuke, and Sai all set up a war council tent while Naruto ran around trying to break up fights between former enemies and Kakashi and Itachi talked ways to force everyone to get along. Lee and a few others have spent the entire day passing around new forehead protectors, as if that’s going to do something when accents are still a pretty good way to figure out where a person’s from instantly.

This is going to be absolutely awful, which is an understatement, but true enough. Maybe if they’re lucky, Sasuke won’t have to turn sixteen on a battlefield, too.

 

 

Though Sasuke’s childhood memories are blurry and incomplete, he remembers this, clearly, from the age of four:

He couldn’t sleep, because Itachi was so sick Sasuke wasn’t allowed in his room (and Sasuke was _always_ allowed in his brother’s room), so he tried wandering around the house until he was tired. Of course, it didn’t work; his mother found him, carried him back, and tucked him into bed with a story. As a kid, he never got a bedtime story, unless they were from Itachi, so it wasn’t as though she had a lot to work with. The result was a memory from the war, where she and her friend Kushina had to hide out for hours in a swap, half covered in muck to use as camoflauge so the Iwa-nin wouldn’t find them. They were supposed to send out a signal when Kushina sensed the enemy nearby, but it didn’t work, and they ended up finishing the mission just the two of them. There was even a scar down his mother’s forearm to prove it, and she fell in love with his father when his team found them right at the end, and he carried her back to safety in his arms.

Back then, Sasuke thought the ending was so anti-climactic, and the actual fighting part was a lot better. Now he’s fighting his way through a crowd of Orochimaru’s old followers, unsurprised that he was right, and he could really do without having war memories of his own.

Naruto hits against his back, knocking someone away before Sasuke can defend himself. “Did we miss a hideout or something?” Naruto says, and he’s already glowing red from the Kyuubi’s chakra. Supposedly he has better control now, and Sasuke just hopes he’s right.  People don’t wake up from dying twice, and he still has Madara to take care of. “How’re there so many?”

If Sasuke had to guess, he’d say a good number escaped the southern hideout when Karin left. It wasn’t very well guarded; the only reason no one was able to get out before was because she was able to sense them before they could even make it down whatever hallway they were stuck in. “One of them had less than the others, remember?” he says, which is the best explanation he can give, and he spots a flash of pink in the distance, close to Itachi’s side. “Look on the bright side. We’re killing more of them than they’re killing us. Get down.”

He pushes Naruto down by the shoulder, and thrusts up with the chokuto, the electrified blade easily sliding into the chest of someone in a Stage Two form trying to attack from above. Blood flies everywhere as he (or she, it’s hard to tell) falls, something Sasuke largely avoids. Naruto isn’t so lucky.

“War’s gross,” he says, scrunching him his face so the whisker marks seem to actually extend from his face, and then he throws himself back into the fight.

Sasuke sighs, does the same, and two hours later every enemy is dead.

 

 

When Yamato’s captured, and no one noticed until after the battle’s done. The force was only a hundred men, presumably the last jutsu fodder at Madara’s disposal, and in retrospect, they should’ve known it was a distraction.

“Any idea what they want him for?” Sasuke asks his brother later as they all wipe themselves off with wash clothes, the best they can do on short notice. The camp’s nearly deserted, the few people here asleep, some not even able to make it to tents and bedrolls before collapsing. War isn’t just gross; it’s also exhausting. “If Madara wanted a hostage, it would’ve made more sense to grab any of us.”

Though Naruto was probably too guarded to kidnap, as the whole division is keeping an eye on him, the rest of Team Kakashi were open for most of the fight. Tsunade would probably have a bad enough reaction to Sakura being taken to do something reckless, not to mention what the rest of them would do. Kakashi’s too good to be taken, as is Itachi, but both he and Sasuke were basically told to preserve their chakra just in case during every battle—no Amaterasu, no Susanoo, no Tsukuyomi. Sasuke could try to fight Madara off, and maybe even survive for a while, but he knows he can’t do it without help. All Sasuke’s…however the man’s related to him would have to do is knock him unconscious and damage his eyes badly enough his Sharingan couldn’t be activated.

Hopefully that won’t happen, though, because Sasuke doesn’t know how he’d able to survive after losing access his vision permanently.

“I don’t know,” Itachi says, shrugging, exhaustion heavy set in his shoulders. “He doesn’t seem the sort to take hostages. Likely that was a deliberate decision, and I doubt we’ll be given an ultimatum for his safe return.”

Even if they were, it’s not as they would risk fulfilling it, Sasuke knows. “I guess there’s no point in saying I hope he’s okay,” he says, pushing his hair off his face. “He’s not.”

Itachi doesn’t bother trying to correct him. It’s not that they’re being pessimists, as Naruto would say, if he heard Sasuke. They’re just being realistic. “We should find somewhere to sleep,” his brother says instead. “Our respite won’t last long before Kakashi comes to find us. I won’t be surprised if our orders change.”

“Yeah,” Sasuke says. “Sleep sounds good. I need to find Sakura, though. She took a pretty bad hit.”

Ten minutes later, he does find her in the medical tent, healed and not quite asleep herself, but getting there, and Naruto sitting in a chair, slumped over a desk. A Suna-nin and an Kiri-nin Sasuke doesn’t recognize are crashed together on a cot. “You need to sleep, too,” Sakura says, and he doesn’t protest when she pulls him down against her side.

 

 

Taking care of Orochimaru’s old followers was easy. It’s dealing with the weird plant-like thing that kidnapped Yamato and keeps duplicating itself that Naruto finds impossible. Or, more specifically, that pretty much everyone finds impossible.

Even though Naruto doesn’t know much about war, he does know it’s not normal to fight a war without an army. These Zetsu things, as Itachi called them, are weird, and hard, and mostly just creepy, but they still aren’t an organized force the way the Shinobi Alliance is. Even Kakashi’s put off by them, and everyone else seems to be, too. According to Sasuke, it seems like they’re just here to tire the separate divisions out, since outside of the occasional missing-nin that decided whatever Madara’s freaky plan is was a good idea, they’re the bulk of the enemy. That seems like the only explanation, but Naruto really can’t figure out what comes _after_ all the forces are exhausted. No one else seems to be able to, either.

Even nights aren’t safe, but everyone needs a break, and for once, all of Team Seven are given one at the same time. He sits around the fire with Sakura and Sasuke, the three of them half asleep, as they eat a dinner of tasteless instant ramen. “I’m never going to be able to eat this again,” he says, miserable at the realization, but picks at more noodles with his chopsticks anyway. “Real ramen is so expensive.”

With a sigh into her bowl, Sakura says, “I’d say compensation for war is good enough that price shouldn’t matter for a while, but Konoha’s still all messed up from Pein’s attack. Aren’t these supposed to come with seasoning packets?”

“Cheaper to make and package plain,” Naruto says, because if there’s one thing he knows for absolute certainty in this war, it’s that the ramen is bad. “It’s better than that nutrient bar thing Lee tried to convince me tasted like berries, though.”

“That’s because it’s supposed to,” Sasuke says, just picking unenthusiastically at the noodles. Over the past few days, he’s eaten practically nothing. Having those severe mood changes he was talking about on the last mission apparently isn’t something that stops just because a war starts. He’s the only one that hasn’t seemed tired for about the past forty-eight hours. “It’s been two weeks, and not a single sighting of Madara. This would be so much easier if we could just go after him ourselves.”

So far, the order from the Kage have been for Sasuke and Itachi to just wait for their crazy living ancestor to reveal himself before they try to chase him. It’s a safety precaution thing, because everyone might be all “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” right now, but Naruto’s good at noticing people’s reactions to each other. Not many people really _trusts_ each other yet, even though it’s been two whole weeks of fighting, and never sleeping more than four hours at a time, if you’re lucky. Sasuke was surprised the orders weren’t changed after Yamato’s kidnapping off the battlefield, but Naruto gets it. There’s a chance that if two Konoha-nin known to be related to enemy leader of the army of plant things goes running after him that a few shinobi from another village might follow, thinking they’re defecting.

It probably doesn’t help that one of the two said Konoha-nin is a reformed Uchiha Itachi, a feared ex-member of the Akatsuki and someone everyone once assumed was totally nuts.

All that would go straight over Sasuke’s head, though, because he’s smart, but he still has a blind spot when it comes to his brother. “Uh, how about no?” Naruto says, because that’s what he’s hoping for. If Sasuke and Itachi leave, Sakura goes with them, and Naruto will be told to stay back because putting Madara near him is a Bad Idea. “He can’t hide behind these things forever, right? So he’s got come after us eventually?”

Maybe if the whole division fights Madara together, they’ll kill him on the first try. Then again, if he goes after a _different_ division, who knows? Apparently that was considered a risk they had to take. “Yeah, probably,” Sasuke says, frowning. “Or at least not until we know where he is. He’s just toying with us.”

“Do either of you want the rest of this?” Sakura says, holding out her bowl. “If I have any more of it, I’m going to be sick. And there’re so many tracking teams and Summons looking for him that he can’t stay hidden forever.”

Even if the ramen sucks, Naruto’s still hungry enough that he takes what’s left of his friend’s after Sasuke shakes his head, and pours it into his bowl. “He has the whole world,” Sasuke says, putting his own down, now just filled with water. “All he has to do is keep moving.”

“Sasuke, you aren’t helping.”

He shrugs. Naruto asks, “What do you think he’s waiting for? A handwritten invitation?”

Again, Sasuke shrugs. “From the way Itachi describes him,” he says, “I wouldn’t be surprised. My family is so fucked up.”

The last time Naruto heard his friend say something negative about his family was when he was explaining the whole attempting uprising thing he found out. For the most part, he just doesn’t talk about any members of it other than Itachi. “You’re a good person,” Naruto says. “So’s Itachi.”

Before Sasuke can answer, the alarm sounds, which means the enemy’s coming too close to camp, and as disappointing as the ramen is, Naruto would’ve liked to at least have been able to finish dinner.

 

 

When Madara finally surfaces, he’s close to Division Two, where the two Kumo Jinchuruki are fighting, and Itachi knows both he and his brother can’t leave Naruto at the same time. “Be careful in case he appears here instead,” Itachi says before he leaves, hugging Sasuke one last time. They’re just at the edge of camp, which is near silent as usual, with very little activity. “Don’t try to go after him without Sakura.”

Sasuke says, “I don’t like this,” as he pulls away, and no, Itachi doesn’t, either. If Madara stays where he is, though, it’s safer for Itachi to attempt to fight on his own than it is for his brother. He’s barely considered fit for active duty, and despite short cuts taken in war, no one’s sending him anywhere alone if they can help it. Even if that weren’t the case, Itachi would like to avoid that.

“Whatever happens,” he says, “I won’t be gone long.”

“Well, just don’t return dead,” Sasuke says bluntly. “You promised.”

For a moment, it feels oddly like when they were children, when Itachi would be leaving for a long term mission and Sasuke would cling to the edges of his shirt in an effort to delay, babbling about safety and making him promise to do something together when he returned. It was as though Sasuke thought if they had a set future, then nothing could possibly go wrong. The morning of the massacre, Itachi promised to practice the Kanton jutsu with him the next day.

Maybe it shouldn’t have come as such as a surprise that Sasuke’s memories twisted so Itachi was his teacher instead of their father.

With one last goodbye, Itachi climbs on to the back of the hawk his brother asked to fly him.

Even if he doesn’t survive, Sasuke has others who care for him, and the thought of that is a comforting one.

 

 

A week after Itachi leaves, his crow appears in the middle of battle, landing on Sasuke’s shoulder. Naruto and Sakura are there in a second, surrounding Sasuke to handle any approaching Zetsu clones to give him the chance to listen to his brother’s message.

“Madara fought only long enough to deplete Itachi of his chakra,” the crow says, staring at him with Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan, which Sasuke still finds disconcerting. Summons aren’t meant to have human chakra signatures. “Itachi used the last of it he could without killing himself to summon me. Be prepared. Madara is coming.”         

The crow disappears on his own, not allowing Sasuke time to ask if he can send a message back to Itachi. “Come on,” he says to his friends, throwing a bundle of Chidori needles in the direction of an oncoming Zetsu. “We need to find Kakashi. Now.”

He hadn’t been kidding when he said he never wanted to face Madara again. Doing so now, without Itachi at his side, is horrifying, and Sasuke doesn’t need anyone to tell him to know he isn’t ready.

 

 

There’s a difference being in the middle of the fray of battle, and being above it. “He’s hiding out in a mountain cave,” Sakura says, wrapping her arms tighter around Sasuke’s middle so she can peer down at the fighting below. Because of the Kyuubi’s chakra, she can spot Naruto individually, and the dot of silver next to him is inevitably Kakashi, but everyone else blends together. “Doesn’t this seem like a trap?”

Sasuke’s eyes, unlike hers, are trained forward, but she can see how tightly his fingers are curled into Garuda’s feathers. Though he’s pretending not to be, he’s just as nervous as she is. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s better than drawing him down there. We can’t let him get near Naruto.”

“I still don’t really get his plan,” Sakura says, peeling her eyes away from the battle below as they sweep around the side of the mountain. “Why try to take all nine? And why keep it up after one is dead?”

With a shrug, Sasuke says, “No idea. I don’t really plan on asking, either. Garuda, are you ready?”

“Be prepared to jump,” the hawk answers, and then dives so sharply downwards Sakura has to swallow back a scream.

Garuda less gives them time to jump off, and more throws them; she manages to untangle herself from Sasuke just in time that they land on their feet separately, right at the entrance of the cave too narrow for the hawk’s wingspan before heading off to do a loop around the mountain. Somehow, Sasuke got Garuda to agree to not only wait for them if things went wrong, but also bring potential followers back down to the battle.

Without pausing, Sasuke goes further in, and she stays close at his back. The cave isn’t big, they find, and Madara’s right at the end, his face covered in the same mask, wrapped in the same cloak. “I knew you’d find me,” he says, straightening his posture. His tone is almost childish. “Itachi really is predictable when it comes to you. You’re coming with me, Sasuke.”

That’s all the warning they get before he’s suddenly behind Sasuke, between him and Sakura, one hand on his shoulder, and the other around his left wrist, the arm he usually uses for any Chidori attacks. The cave explodes with electricity anyway, bouncing off walls and forcing Sakura to jump back to avoid being hit. Madara swears, releases Sasuke’s wrist but keeps his hand on his shoulder. He twists under the grip, eye beginning to bleed in the clear sign he’s about to use Amaterasu, and then—

Sakura blinks, and looks around. Whatever just happened wasn’t a Shunshin, but they’re just _gone._ She remembers what Sasuke and Itachi said about that alternate dimension, but she hadn’t known people could disappear inside, too. Even so, she can’t think of a better explanation.

Suddenly angry with herself for not stopping this, she turns, punching hard at the cave wall. It breaks, weaker than she thought, and she watches in horror as the split spreads to the ceiling, the structure shaking.

“Garuda!”

The cave collapses behind her as she runs, and Garuda dives, catching her when she jumps from the cliff’s edge. “What happened to Sasuke?” he asks, and then the side of the mountain bursts.

A rock catches Garuda by the wing with the crunch of bone, and Sakura’s weightless among the rain of stone.

 

 

Kamui is incredibly plain, Sasuke finds, comprised of the absence of light and something like long blocks. “Did you just put me in storage?” he says, looking around. He’s surrounded by an assortment of  random objects. There’s even a giant fan that would be bigger than him even standing a few blocks over, which he recognizes as the Uchiha ancestral weapon. “Is this place supposed to make you feel dizzy?”

It’s more than just dizziness, he realizes. It’s more like he’s faded, losing his solidity. He feels like if he tries to sit up, he’ll lose himself completely, but lying on his back in front of his enemy is a pretty bad idea, too.

Luckily for him, Madara doesn’t seem to care about killing him yet. “Storage?” he says, crouching down at Sasuke’s side and ignoring his second question. “Eh, I guess. See, your brother might be the one hailed as the Uchiha prodigy, but you’re better. He’s willing to do what’s necessary, sure, but he’s too much of a pacifist when you really get down to it. It’s easy to rile him up, too. All it takes is mentioning you. But you—you’re unpredictable. You don’t mind getting your hands dirty. It’s actually a little refreshing. I don’t think you’re brother would ever be able to burn Orochimaru alive the way you did.”

Though he’s having trouble thinking, Sasuke’s able to process that enough to realize what Madara meant. Sasuke doesn’t want to be anything worthy appreciation. “Orochimaru was something of a special case,” he says. “That’s not something I make a habit of.”

“A couple panic attacks doesn’t make you any less brutal,” Madara says, “You thought your girlfriend was dead, and you were still able to use the corpse of the girl who sacrificed herself for you as a means to an end. That I hadn’t seen coming, I’ll admit.”

“You’re really going to talk to _me_ about Karin?” Sasuke says, sitting up abruptly. For a moment, his vision whites out as if he overused his Mangekyo Sharingan, and it comes back into focus just in time to see a few weapons slide from a block behind Madara. “You _lied_ to her, for what? So everyone could get along all nice and happy because you trap them in an eternal illusion? What’re you going to do now that you have _two_ at—”

“Why do you think this is so horrible, Sasuke?” he asks. “I’ve looked into you, you know, as confused as I was that you successfully managed to electrocute me. That’s not too easy. Turns out your mind is just as scrambled up as everyone down there thinks mine is, am I right? Imagine living out your whole life, just you, your girlfriend, your friends, and none of the pain.”

Sasuke’s not bad at feeling out chakra, and the realization that Madara’s been watching him and he hasn’t picked up on it is horrifying. “I don’t care what I am,” he answers, putting the thought away until later. “The world’s a wreck. Everyone in it has their issues. Don’t glorify your decision to dissect everyone by claiming it’s for the greater good. I’d rather take the nightmares and the real Konoha. I might suffer from mood changes, but at least I’m not delusional.”

Sighing, Madara says, “I know your brother doesn’t understand, but I thought you might. We’re not that different, you and—”

“Oh, come on.”

Madara holds up his hand. “The family thought I was a failure, too, when I was a kid, and never got the chance to see how wrong they were. Then there was a girl. A teammate. She was a medical-nin, just like your Sakura. Kind, skilled, pretty, everything you could want. But she was torn away from me when my teammate killed her instead of saved her.”

Confused, Sasuke says, “You had me until the end. Doesn’t that go against your ‘peace for everyone’ plan?” Naruto would also never hurt Sakura, but that feels like a useless thing to point out.

“Well, I had to scrap that plan,” Madara says, catching Sasuke by surprise, because that isn’t what he told the Summit. “You tore it to shreds the moment you got your self-sacrificing Karin killed, and convinced Itachi to come home, accelerating Pein’s actions. Both of Iwa’s Jinchuruki committed suicide, too, once news got out. Did you hear about that? No, didn’t think so, it wasn’t information they exactly publicized, hoping I wouldn’t find out. So, Konoha has its Naruto, Taki with its Fu, and Kumo both of its Jinchuruki, which left me with two—the Saiken, and the Shukaku. Oh, and Fu died within the first week from ‘accidental’ friendly fire.”

A tremor goes through Kamui, which is either perfectly normal, or unfelt by Madara. “What did you do?”

Again, he sighs. “I want you to remember, Sasuke,” he says, “that I wouldn’t have had to do this if it weren’t for you. You were right when you said the world’s a wreck, and it’s only going to get worse. Someone has to do something about it. The Akatsuki had the Tailed-Beasts sealed in special jars. Explosive tags are all it’ll take to crack the outer shelling and release them both. One with Itachi’s division. One with yours. Once they take care of those, I’ll sic them on the others, and wipe out the shinobi population.”

When Sasuke stands, Madara stands with him. Another tremor goes through Kamui, more obvious than before, and finally, he looks around. If Sasuke had to guess, then, this isn’t normal, but there are more important things to deal with. “Itachi knows how to seal,” he says, remembering how his brother tore Orochimaru out of him. “Others do, too. It’s never going to work.”

“Itachi would have to be able to control the Saiken at the same time,” Madara says, looking back to Sasuke. “Your eyes might be strong enough to control a Tailed-Beast, but his aren’t.  And no matter how many out there can seal, I doubt they can deal with _all_ of them.”

“All of—”

Madara nods. “I did tell you Naruto would kill your girlfriend,” he says. “You’re going to stay right here until I get him to lose control, and send him in her direction. That’ll get you back in time to watch. If I can’t give the world peace through the bliss of ignorance, then I’ll destroy all its soldiers.”

For the first time since he was ten, Sasuke wishes he never fell back in time, and had a chance to reverse it, because there’s nothing that possibly could’ve happened worse than this. “The world will just make new ones,” he says. “War’s never going to stop. All it took to rally every shinobi nation out there was the threat to stop it. You’re murdering thousands of people for nothing.”

“After I finish with the armies,” Madara says, ignoring him, “I’ll destroy to shinobi villages, with the exception of Konoha. It always was the Uchiha clan’s by right. Konoha will be the last to have any semblance of a force. We’ll have spies throughout the world, ready to end any sign of a civilian village trying to recreate itself in a shinobi’s image.”

“But that’s—”

“I should set off those tags now.” He tilts his head to the side. “No, I need to take care of you first. Can’t have you taking control like you did with the Isobu’s Jinchuruki.”

Taking a step back, Sasuke says, “Isn’t blinding me a little counterproductive?” and his vision slides out of focus again.

Without answering, Madara reaches out, and Sasuke’s heel finds the edge of the block. “One Sharingan is less powerful than two,” Madara answers, and aims to remove Sasuke’s left eye.

Then Madara’s hand passes through Sasuke, harmless, and all around them, Kamui begins to crumble to dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forewarning, as we're going into the last chapter, that the ending to this is kind of weird for a time travel piece. That's the most you're getting, though.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [don't hold this war inside](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3092447) by [lunarctus (nex_et_nox)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nex_et_nox/pseuds/lunarctus)




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